AU1 Part 3: Wandering the Darkness
by Adamonator
Summary: Sora, Kairi and Riku have defeated the evil mysterious men and are on their way to their next journey. As night turns to day and day turns to night, will their hearts reveal the path.
1. Warm Welcome

**Surprise! Yes I decided to write my third story now. Only because I'm bored so I might as well do it now. Im not sure how long this next one will be. I think I'll end up keeping to the 25 chapters. The first 10 in Organisation High were just to draw you into the main story. I do see that they aren't the best chapters in the world so I will be remaking some of them if necessary. For now though I hope you enjoy story 3, Wandering the Darkness.**

**Universal dreams**

**Chapter 26**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 1**

**Warm Welcome**

"Wha… what just happened?" asked a confused Pronex.

"This just happened," said the mysterious girl who had landed on top of Pronex. She raised her weapon and was about to slash down.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" questioned Pronex who then melted into the ground with a dark portal and disappeared.

"Shoot! He got away again," complained the girl.

"Don't worry. We'll get him next time," said the largest of the other group.

"Who are you?" asked a confused Riku.

"What? Don't you recognise me Riku?" said the girl, she stepped out of the shadows and revealed her face.  
"Yuffie!" The Trio were bemused. They thought Yuffie went back home. They thought she was trapped back at Sunset Islands. "How come you're here?" Kairi asked.

"Well it all started back at the school," she started. "As I started to leave I was reminded that I've always wanted to leave that place. So what I did was wait at the door until you had gone out the room. I followed you and stowed away in the engine room of the ship. But then at Port Royal, I left the ship and you guys had gone off. I eventually met this guy here," she pointed at the large guy who spoke before. "He let me onto his ship and meet his friends. Apparently their world was also stuck in a time lock so were also forced to escape. They were on a mission to try and capture Pronex and the gang to get them to send them back home. And here we are now."

"Makes sense but who are these guys?" asked Sora.

"Well this guy here…" (The largest guy), "… is called Zack."

"Hello," he said. His skin was tanned and he wore a ripped blue shirt that seemed too small. He also wore denim jeans and white trainers. His hair was very short and was a dark brown. His weapon was a war hammer. It was basic apart from eccentric patterns on the side.

"This guy is called Marcus," she continued pointing at the tall guy. He wore blue framed glasses and had messy blonde hair. He wore a green long sleeve shirt and brown trousers with black trainers. His weapon was a simple sword. At least it looked like a normal sword.

"This girl is called Chloe," Yuffie said pointing to the shorter of the girls. She had medium length brown hair which had been platted. She wore a cream shirt with a white fleece. She also wore a knee high, purple skirt. She had metallic claw extensions rather than a large weapon.

"The last person here is called Naomi," Yuffie finished pointing at the last girl. She was by far the tallest of the group. She had long black hair with pink and blue streaks. She wore a black and blue crop top and a dark, denim shorts. Her weapon was a chain whip, a metal whip made of chain links with a bladed plate at the end.

"So were you those people trying to hack into our radio system?" said Kairi.

"Yeah but it didn't work," said Marcus. "I couldn't get the station you were on and ended up breaking both ours and your radios."

"Why were you trying to hack in?" asked Riku.

"Why else, Riku?" Yuffie replied with a wink which caused him to retract.

"So what exactly happened to you then?" Sora asked.

"Pronex threatened to destroy our world," Naomi said. "He threatened to take over our world and destroy it if we didn't follow his orders."

"His orders for us were to collect these creatures called the Beings of Creation," said Chloe. "He said to find and collect them."

"What do they look like?" Sora asked.

"Pronex said they look like dragons," Zack said. "One Blue, one yellow and one red."

"Dragons? Hey Sora haven't we seen them before?" asked Kairi.

"Yeah back at the school," he said. "They flew off before we found the underground base of theirs."

"Can you take us to your world?" Marcus asked. "You broke the void so the time locks may have gone too."

"Fine ok," said Sora. "Just follow us." He walked over to the edge of the broken platform but then suddenly stopped. A tear rolled down his face but he couldn't understand why. Kairi and Riku had also followed suit and had also started to cry. None of which could figure out what was causing it. Wiping away the tear, he jumped onto the newly reformed platform where 2 gummi ships now lay, his and the other groups' ship.

Deep in space, Sora, Kairi and Riku talk about their recent fight.

"So what do we know?" Sora asked.

"Pronex, Zurox and Mawlix are creating a new world," said Riku.

"They used Riku's darkness to power their creation," said Kairi.

"They used you 2 as batteries"

"And that we weren't the only ones who were on a mission because of them."

"Ok," Sora said. "Another thing. Why do you think we cried before? I felt sad for some reason but I didn't know what I was sad about."

"Yeah same here," said Kairi as she went over to Sora to hold onto him. "It felt like I was missing something. Something that I felt needed to be kept."

"Guys, we shouldn't be letting our emotions get in the way," said Riku. "They can drag us down if we don't control it. Actually speaking of emotions Sora, are you still able to use them?"

"I don't know let me try." He started to empower himself with love. Yet he did not succeed. "I guess I just need to practice more. Hey are we nearly there yet?"

"Seems so," said Kairi. She let go of Sora and walked over to the control desk. The radar was bleeping and the screen showed their home land, Sunset islands. The top half was a large island with twilight town at the centre. At the bottom were a smaller bunch of islands surrounding a slightly larger one. They began to break into the atmosphere. They then heard Yuffie's voice through the speakers.

"Hey guys, try not to be spotted flying in. people might catch on to what we are doing."

They flew in and landed onto a deserted island that lay about a mile or so off the coast of Destiny Island. It was very small. Only large enough for the two ships. The 8 of them got off of their ships and stepped onto the white sand. They saw no other means of transport other than swimming.

"How the hell are we supposed to get the mainland if we cant fly there?" Zack complained.

"Wait! I have an idea!" yelled Sora who ran back into the ship. He rushed into his and Riku's room and opened the cupboard door revealing two orbs within them, one blue and one grey. He then ran into Kairi's room and grabbed the pink orb that lay on her bed-side table. He then rushed outside and handed the corresponding orbs out.

"Oh yeah I forgot about these," said Kairi as she held onto the orb as tight as she could. As soon as she began to glow pink, she dove into the sea. After a few seconds she re-emerged back in her old Atlantica form. Sora and Riku followed suit and soon enough they were back in their old forms.

"We'll be back with boats," explained Riku as the three of them swam off into the distance. About 30 minutes later, all 8 of them reached the mainland. They tied the boats to the docks and walked off down the lane towards the town unaware of what was to happen.

**Yay, story 3. To new readers, I thank you for giving up time to read. For returning readers, I thank you for sticking with me. So it is confirmed that the new story is called Wandering the Darkness. I don't want to reveal too much yet but I can confirm that it isn't the end for Namine, Roxas and Ven. They will return eventually. I want to know who's happy that Yuffie has returned. I wouldn't leave her at the world doomed to the stoppage of time. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you next time.**


	2. Strange Return

**3****rd**** Story. 2****nd**** Chapter. 1****st**** person to write a chapter while doing about 5 different things at the same time.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 2**

**Strange Return**

Sora felt unusual being back on the Sunset Islands. It was his home all his life yet felt like he had never been there before. Maybe it was because of the 2 month trip out into the stars.

"It seems there was a time leap," said Marcus holding a small device that looked like it was scanning the area. "Although it was frozen in time, it seems that its timeline has jumped back to where it belongs. Everyone seems to have experienced the 2 months but you haven't."

"A time leap?" Sora questioned.

"Think of it like this," Marcus said. "There is a large jump over a deep gap. Everyone in the time lock basically climbed down the gap and climbed up the other side. Meanwhile you just jumped over the top at the same time they reached the top." [1]

"Oh I get it," said Kairi. "It was a time lock to anyone outside the atmosphere but it seemed like normal on the inside."

"Exactly, meaning that there is no break in the time-space continuum," said Marcus.

"Can we stop with this smart talk and get on to the old school?" Yuffie complained.

"Yeah ok fine," Sora said as he started to walk over to the Destiny Island railway.

Upon arrival at the station, Sora looks over the view of the town. It had stayed the same as when he had left it. He looked over the wall and saw the school complex down below. Sticking to his old route, he climbed over the wall and started to scale down the steep hill. Having not gone down it in ages seemed to confuse Sora and he fell over clawing into the ground. Zack lost his footing and, due to his large weight, fell over himself and began to roll down the hill. Sora got up and started to run down after him. He drew his Kingdom Key and boomeranged it in front of him which then stuck the ground. Zack held onto it and pulled himself up.

"Thanks Sora," he said. "I don't know what would have happened."

"Broken leg," said Sora. "First time I did it. I tripped over a rock."

Eventually they reached the base of the hill next to the high metal fence surrounding the complex. It was the summer holidays so were forced to ascend the fence. After getting Yuffie off of the fence after she got caught, they eventually came up to the old battle fields. The Thunder Field had been shut down leaving a dark circle of scorched grass. The Fire Field had also left a scorched area but this field also had a ring of fire still surrounding it. The Ice Field had melted in the sun and all was left was parts of the ice walls and some ice pillars. Marcus walked over to the Ice Field and started to scan it.

"There was definitely life here," said Marcus. "There also seems to be a hollow entrance that has been sealed."

"Leave it to me," said Naomi pushing Marcus out of the way. She wielded her Iron Whip and started to hack and slash at the ground. After a few seconds, the ground broke away leaving the same stairway that Yuffie and Riku had once descended.

"Very well done Naomi," said Marcus. "After you." He gestured her towards the stairs, who was then followed by everyone else."

Halfway down, they saw the ice slide still intact. It seemed to have lasted even in the summer heat. Using it to their advantage, Sora went down it. Aiming his Keyblade, he raised it up and started the beam of light. When he reached the bottom, he fired the light and slid through the golden dust that had appeared that once was the door. Sora stood up but was immediately knocked back down by the oncoming hoard of people. With many moans and groans, all 8 of them managed to pull themselves up.

"Is this the place?" asked Chloe. "The place that you mentioned before."

"Yeah, this is the base," said Sora. "Their base. This is where we fought them for the first time. It was a tough fight just the 3 of us."

"Do you think they'll have any information here?" asked Marcus.

"Only one way to find out," Naomi said as she walked over the other opposite door to which Sora first stepped through top find the gummi ship.

"Hey wait!" yelled Chloe who the proceeded to follow.

"So do you think that your world has escaped their time lock," asked Riku.

"Don't think so," Marcus replied. "You said they forced you to leave so they could use you as batteries. They have no use for you now so allowed you to return home."

"We were taken away to find those beings of creation," said Zack. "Since we haven't completed our task, it's most likely that our world isn't free yet."

"Look I'm gonna go and follow the girls," said Kairi. "Just to make sure they don't kill themselves."

"Yeah you go do that," said Riku. She ran after to the large door that Naomi and Chloe had left through.

"So what's your battling style you two?" Sora asked.

"My battling style is brute strength," said Zack as he raised his war hammer.

"And mine is tactical," said Marcus. "Know your enemy to beat them."

"Why don't we have a 2-on-2 then?" Riku asked. "Me and Sora against you two."

"Ok sure. Why not?" said Zack.

"Ooh I'll judge," announced Yuffie. "Two on two. Rubble may be used as defence only. No handling the opponent. Two man attacks are allowed. Ready?"

"Ready!" the 4 boys said.

"Begin!"

Zack made the first move and started to spin while running swinging the hammer round and round using the weight of it to continue spinning. Sora was in the way. He ducked down and slashed at Zack's exposed legs and tripped him up. Riku came in to slash down into Zack but he rolled out of the way. Meanwhile Marcus just stood still, observing. Sora ran after Zack who stood back up. Zack swung at him but missed as Sora jumped over it and slashed into his head. Riku then cast Dark Firaga and shot it at Zack. Marcus made his first move and slowly walked over to Sora. Sora saw him coming, ran at him and swung. Marcus however slashed straight up into the side of the weapon and blocked the attack. Sora was knocked over due to the skilled shot. He was then side swiped in the waist and knocked over. Marcus then ran in and stabbed at the incoming swing from Riku. Riku was too slow and he too was on the ground. Sora got up and ran over to Riku to help him up. They then linked arms and Riku started to swing Sora round and round. Sora dropped his keyblade into his legs. His foot hooked into the handle and it started to swing around with him. Not expecting this, Marcus fell off guard and stumbled. He was hit into the recovering Zack who also fell over. Riku then threw Sora into a screw attack straight for the duo. Marcus however slid under him and stabbed up causing Sora to drop his Keyblade and fall into a heap on the ground. Riku rushed over to him and the fallen Keyblade. He picked it up and went to attack Marcus dual wielding. Riku used dark Firaga to enchant the weapons and slashed. Marcus however just picked up Zack's war-hammer and stood it up in front of him. Riku hit the weapons and was flung backwards. He too dropped the weapons. Marcus helped up Zack and handed him his war-hammer. He then jumped up and Zack caught him so he landed on top of the head of war-hammer. Zack smashed down while during the decent, Marcus jumped off. Marcus was flung forwards followed by ridges following him through the ground. Both he and the earthquake hit Sora and Riku allowing him and Zack to claim victory.

"The winners are Marcus and Zack," Yuffie announced. She raised one of her shurikens and cast cure on them all. "That was an amazing final move guys. When did you learn that?"

"Improvisation," said Marcus. "I certainly didn't know that would happen."

"Well good game anyway," said Sora and we went to shake hands. "Not had a decent challenge in a while."

"Come on we had better find Kairi, Naomi and Chloe now," said Zack. "They've been gone a while."

"Yeah sure," said Sora. The 5 of them followed on to where the 3 girls had disappeared. It didn't help when they were greeted by screams as they reached the door. Kairi came running through and ran into Sora's arms, badly bruised from some sort of attack.

"Sora! Help!" she cried.

"Kairi, whats wrong?" he replied.

"We were going through their files when we were attacked by lots of robots," she sobbed. "Naomi and Chloe are still in there fighting."

"Don't worry. We'll get them. Come on guys." Sora drew his Keyblade and ran through the door. Yuffie drew her shuriken and cast heal on Kairi. Her wounds had disappeared. The rest of them then proceeded through after Sora.

**[1] I will not be surprised if you are confused.**

**So sorry about the long delay. My college work is getting in the way and I haven't had too much free time. Anyway I hope this was worth the wait. If not then I promise the next one will. Thank you for reading / reviewing / favouriting, etc.**


	3. Departure

**Little disappointed that people who liked my last story haven't commented on this new one. Then again I could have some secret fans who don't like commenting (It could happen). Anyway, here is chapter 3, enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 3**

**Departure**

Sora rushed into a large office with an open area. From this open area, hundreds of androids were climbing over the fence and attacking Naomi and Chloe. Naomi was managing to strangle and destroy them with her whip but couldn't destroy lots at once. Chloe was running through the hoard of robots slicing through their torso's revealing their internal wiring. She couldn't however destroy them quick enough. Sora ran in wielding his keyblade. Kairi and Riku followed in the same way. Zack wielded his hammer and ran in smashing in robot heads. Marcus and Yuffie stayed back. Marcus just planned an attack while Yuffie used her Shurikens to keep the robots away from him.

Sora jumped and slashed into one of the black and red robots smashing it into the ground. From there, he spun round once and created a small air wave to keep them away from him. Kairi used her own powers to create a channel of air and directed it into a large crowd of robots. Riku created a wave a dark matter and shot it into the crowd of androids. They were blasted back into a larger crowd who were also knocked down. Marcus leapt into action and ran in swinging his sword with precision accuracy and sliced robot after robot in half.

One robot then appeared. While the normal ones had red veins, this one had blue veins. It looked around as if observing the massacre. It emitted a loud sound and flew off using rockets in its feet. All the red veined robots then stopped and subsequently followed. All that remained were hundreds of robot pieces scattered all over the once clean floor. Sora walked over to the filing cabinets that the girls were looking at before they were attacked.

"What are you doing Sora?" asked Kairi.

"I'm looking for something on those robot things," he replied. "Pronex must have written something down about them and why he needed them."

"Actually you could be wrong," Marcus piped up. "Look at this." He held up and arm that had come from one of the robots. "There's a small mark on the palm. I don't think I've seen Pronex with that symbol at all."

SMASH. Everyone turned round to see Zack with his hammer on top of something while Chloe jumped back behind Naomi.

"What the hell Zack," yelled Chloe. "Don't use that hammer near me."

"Oh grow up Chlo," sighed Naomi. She bent down to look at what Zack had smashed. It was a robot head. Inside it were hundreds of microchips, one of which stood out like a sore thumb. It was a large black chip with the heartless insignia on it. "It seems that these robots aren't only being powered by electricity."

"You think that blue robot is a stronger version of the red one?" asked Chloe. "And what if there are models stronger than that?"

"Well we'll just have to destroy each and every one of them," said Sora. "Aha I've got it." He pulled out a folder which had a sticker on the front. It read 'VANITUS PLAN IV.'

"Plan 4?" Riku asked. "What happened to plans 1, 2 and 3?"

"There weren't any other plans," Sora explained. "They must have abandoned this plan in order to pursue their other plans. It would also explain why this whole room was filled with them." He opened up the file but to his horror, only showed the information to the red robots, the blue ones and white ones. The rest of the pages had been torn out. Sora guessed that they must have sabotaged their own work as to not allow then to read it. It seemed they hadn't done a good job. Sora read the files that were still there.

The red robots were called Heartless-droids. They, like the heartless, fought off instinct and used power. As they were robots, they followed orders from anyone who had control of them, not necessarily the strongest person.

The blue ones were called Unversed-droids. They fought with skill rather than power and are the fastest of the robots. Them being robots, they could extend parts of their mechanism to reach far places.

The white ones were, predicatively, called Nobody-droids. They used strength as well as speed and accuracy making them the best model known to the group. The Nobody chip allows them to be made of less mechanics therefore making them lighter.

"So what's our plan of action?" asked Sora. "This information might be useful but we still don't know what to do."

"Well I suggest we go for our original plan of searching for the beings of creation," suggested Naomi. "We can split up in our original teams to cover more ground."

"Oh that's a point," exclaimed Kairi. "Is there anything in that filing cabinet about the beings of creation?"

"Let me check," said Sora. He sorted through the files but found no such information.

"So random searching it is then," said Naomi. "Come on Chlo." Naomi walked over to the door and towards the surface and was soon followed by Chloe.

"Might I suggest searching the world Neverland," said Riku to Marcus.

"Ok, if you give me the co-ordinates and we'll go check it out," said Marcus. He and Riku then followed Naomi and Chloe.

"Come on Zack," said Yuffie. "We'd better go and follow before they leave us."

"Ok sure," he replied. They too followed towards the surface leaving Sora and Kairi.

"Its been a while since we've been on our own like this," said Sora.

"About time too," said Kairi as she went to kiss him. Sora felt her warm lips on his own and proceeded to kiss her back. She then pulled away while Sora leant forward to try and get her back. "We haven't been going out that long you know."

"Hehe, I guess," laughed Sora. "Come on then. We'd better catch up to them." They took each others hand and followed the group back to the surface. Once they had reached the top and walked out of the hidden door, Sora felt a chill down his spine. He also saw Kairi react in the same way. The old school seemed to radiate a dark glow from it, strongest from the dorms.

"What do you think is happening?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know but we'd better find out," said Sora as they both ran towards the dormitory entrance.

Upon opening the door they were blasted back by a dark wave. They were both knocked over and flat on their backs. A dark hooded figure stepped out of the darkness. He was clutching a small, red orb. He then opened a dark portal and stepped through it. Sora got up and helped Kairi up too. She cast a light spell into the darkness which caused it to dissolve. They both ran in, keyblades raised. Doors were smashed in all the way through the corridor. At the far end however was a large hole where a wall once was. This room was the old social room. Sora walked in with Kairi by his side. Kairi cast light again dissolving the last of the darkness. Once it had gone, they saw a figure sat in the corner. Xemnas, the old headmaster, had been knocked out, maybe even killed. He still seemed to be breathing normally yet his ethereal blades were lodged into his stomach.

"Sir!" they yelled as they ran to his side. Before they could reach him though, he disappeared into a dark portal leaving his weapons behind. Sora picked them up to inspect them. Once he realised they were normal, he retracted the blade itself and pocketed the handles.

"Whats going on?" Sora asked himself.

"We should get back," suggested Kairi. "Maybe we can find something soon in our next journey."

"Next one?"

"Yeah we need to find those creature don't we?"

"Oh yeah come on."

Kairi led the way while Sora followed. They were in for a shock however. Within the few minutes they were in the building, the bright sunlight had gone. The sun was still there but was emitting darkness rather than light. The world had gone cold. Had darkness won?

"Let's go!" Kairi yelled. They ran over the fence they had hurdled before and climbed up the sharp embankment leading up to the sunset island railway. Once on the train, they met up with the rest of the gang and travelled back to the beach. The world was becoming colder. They had to escape and try and sort out this problem. Yuffie and her group got into a large rowing boat while Sora, Kairi and Riku activated their Atlantica costumes and dove into the sea. They pulled the boat over to the small island on which their ships were parked. As soon as they got out of their costumes and out of the sea itself, the water had frozen. It seemed impossible yet the darkened cold had somehow done it. Marcus opened the door to his ship and his gang followed on. Riku went onto his own and retrieved the co ordinates for Neverland. Marcus stepped back out and collected them.

"We have to find out why this is happening," said Marcus.

"I bet is Pronex," Riku growled. "They can't get away with this forever."

"Come on we'd better hurry," said Sora. Sora ran into the ship and started up the engines. Marcus ran onto his ship and started it up. Once Kairi and Riku had boarded their ship, Sora pulled off the ground. As the ship flew out of Sunset Islands atmosphere, they looked down to see the world be consumed by an everlasting night. As they flew further and further, it began to become brighter. It seems as if the distant sun was only partly covered by darkness and was slowly being consumed. Sora had to stop the darkness. Was this to be his toughest fight yet?

**Chapter over. Oh great, another enemy. That should keep you tuned in. Chapter update might become slower and slower due to college work. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I hope to update as soon as possible.**


	4. Wooded Wonders

**And we return to the Disney worlds. New story so new worlds. The last one had 5 so I will try and get more in this time. If you would like to see your favourite world in my story or any Disney film brought to life, please review. For the first time this story (although I should have done it the first chapter), I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or any Disney films.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 4**

**Wooded Wonders**

**Welcome to Dwarf Woodlands**

"Sora!" Kairi had found a signal on the radar. Marcus had flown his group over to Neverland to discover more of the world.

"Our new adventure begins today," said Riku. The radar came up with the name, 'Dwarf Woodlands' and the world had appeared. It looked like a wide open meadow surrounded by flowers. On one side was a cottage with a thatched roof. Next to it seemed to be some sort of mine. On the other side was a forest. It was dark and foreboding. It seemed like dark figures could live there.

"Ok ready to disembark," said Sora at the controls. He pushed the control stick down to send it in to land. They hit the ground with a light thud. The door opened and the three of them jumped out onto the soft earth.

"So where do we start looking?" asked Riku.

"Well there were three main areas," said Kairi. "Why don't we split up and check them out?"

"Yeah ok," said Sora. "I'll go check out the mine."

"I'll search the forest," said Riku. "That leaves you, Kairi, with the cottage area."

"Ok I'll see you later then," she replied. She gave Sora a quick peck on the cheek and ran off into the trees.

"Man your real lucky to gave a girl like her," said Riku.

"Ain't I though," Sora laughed. "Aww you'll find someone. Come on lets go to our assigned areas." Sora ran off towards the mountains while Riku just smiled and walked to the thickest woods.

**Kairi's Story**

Kairi wandered through the wide spread trees until she found a lonely path. Along the path were small mounds of grass covered with colourful flowers. Kairi knelt down on one of the mounds and picked a white flower. She breathed in its scent and smiled.

"Just like home," she said and placed the flower in her hair.

"Oh!" said a voice. Kairi jumped up and unleashed her weapon but immediately loosed her grip. The voice came from a young girl of about Kairi's age. She wore a dark blue and yellow dress. From the waist down it was yellow and stopped at the top of the ankle. From the waist up, it was blue with large shoulders which had red droplet shapes on them. She wore a red cape with a white collar. Her complexion was very pale which made her dark hair seem even darker. In her hair were a red headband and a crown of pansies which seemed to be freshly picked.

"Im sorry. I didn't know anyone else came out to these parts of the woods," she said.

"Oh no I'm new around these parts," Kairi replied. She stuck out her hand for a handshake. "My name is Kairi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Kairi. My name is Snow White," said the girl who then took Kairi's hand and lightly shook it. Kairi was surprised by how light her hand shake was.

"So what are you doing out here?" Kairi asked.

"Oh I'm just here to pick flowers," smiled Snow White. "It's ever so peaceful out here. It's a shame most people don't know about it."

"Well why don't I accompany you?" Kairi asked. "You don't want to be lonely now do you?"

"Ok Kairi. Actually I wanted to go into those woods over there." Snow White pointed towards the thicket of trees. "I've never been brave enough to go in. Maybe you would like to accompany me in there?"

"I would love to." Kairi led the way into the woods while Snow White followed.

10 minutes in and Snow White started to panic.

"It's ever so dark in here," she whimpered. "I think we should turn back."

"Come on now, we're nearly there," said Kairi. "I can see a clearing out in the distance. We just have to reach…" Kairi was cut short by a mist. A dark mist. One which seemed unnatural to this world. "Snow White, stay behind me!" Kairi drew her Springs Despair and held it up. The dark mist just swayed in the mist. It then suddenly attacked Kairi. Snow White screamed but Kairi managed to swat it away. It flew away but then swerved round and attacked again. As it reached Kairi, it disappeared. Kairi swung anyway but felt no form of contact. Snow White screamed once more and Kairi turned round. The dark mist had gone through Kairi and into Snow White. A dark aura had appeared around her. Her eyes had gone from a light brown to a menacing red. Her rouged lips had turned black as she bared an evil grin. The flowers in her hair had changed too. They had died and had curled up into thorns. Snow White had turned into a dark princess.

"Whoa how did that happen?" Kairi exclaimed. "She had a certain light about her."

"Unless the darkness was manufactured." Kairi raised her Keyblade as Pronex stepped through a dark portal next to the dark princess. "We have perfected the manufacturing of darkness to take over all hearts. This darkness doesn't empower darkness already there. It wouldn't have worked on this fair maiden if it did. This darkness absorbs the light inside a heart and renders it helpless. Not even the strongest of hearts can resist the new darkness." He snapped his fingers and he disappeared. A dark blast erupted from Snow White and it shrouded her. When it dissipated, her blue and yellow dress had transformed into a large, black and red ball gown. She raised her hand and a ball of darkness shot at Kairi who only just managed to deflect it. The deflected orb shot into the air and exploded. Dark thorns erupted from the core and surrounded the two of them. Kairi was going to run but was forced to fight. She turned her blade on the Dark Princess and sprinted at her. She swung back and clenched her eyes shut. She swung forward only to her a slap against skin. Kairi opened her eyes to see the Dark Princess holding onto the blade. She pulled it from Kairi's grip and sealed it in darkness. The Dark Princess then spoke in a raspy voice.

"Let's fight properly, Light versus Dark." She created a large dark Firaga and fired it at Kairi. Kairi however didn't know how to summon light with her bare hands and was forced to just dodge the attack. She rolled forward and the Firaga blasted behind her. The blast sent her forwards and made her land on top of the Dark Princess. Her hand touched the dark skin of her once pale face. Once they made contact, Kairi's natural light burned away the darkness. They both screamed in pain and pulled away from each other. Upon the Dark princesses face was a hand print. Kairi's hand print. Her hand print had removed the darkness in that one place. Snow Whites pale skin could now be seen. Kairi looked at her hand and knew what needed to be done.

Kairi ran full pelt at the Dark princess. She retaliated by shooting dark spirals at her. Kairi used a reversal around it and leapt onto the Dark Princess into a bear hug. The darkness burned away from under Kairi's arms as they both screamed in pain. Kairi couldn't hold on any longer and leapt off of her. The front of the Dark Princesses had returned to Snow Whites blue dress. Kairi ran at the Dark Princess once more and rugby tackled her to the ground removing the darkness from her legs. The Dark Princess placed her hands on Kairi's shoulders and used a dark blast. Kairi was blown away from the Dark Princess and she hit a tree. Snow White was starting to come back but still had bits of darkness on her back and her face. Kairi regained herself and ran at the Dark Princess once more. The Dark Princess however had other plans and punched the ground releasing a dark pulse. The surrounding area became pitch black. Large white flowers surrounded Kairi in a circle with the Dark Princess on the outside. She punched the back of one the flowers and it shot out hundreds of petals which then attacked Kairi. Kairi ran around in circles ducking and dodging out of the attacks aim. As the phase progressed, the flowers slowly became darker and darker and the attack getting faster and faster. Eventually they became as black as night with the petals going so fast it was hard to make out what was going on. One of the giant black flowers then span on spot and knocked out the others in a domino effect. The last one shot its attack at the Dark Princess knocking her down. Kairi ran over to her and picked her up by the back of her dress relieving of some of the darkness. Kairi then pushed her hands onto the sides of the Dark Princesses head and relieved her of the artificial darkness. Snow White was once again in her original form. She then fell in a heap on the ground.

The thorns that created the field dissolved revealing Pronex behind them clapping.

"Very good Kairi," he said. "I see you haven't lost your touch. I'm sure the others are will do just as well in their own tests right as we speak."

"You leave Sora and Riku alone!" Kairi yelled.

"Oh if only it were that easy." With that, Pronex snapped his fingers and released Kairi's weapon and disappeared. Kairi ran towards Snow White and scooped up her Springs Despair on the way. She sheathed the weapon in a beam of light and dropped to Snow Whites side. She lay in place, seemingly unconscious. Kairi lifted Snow White onto her back and carried her off to the light that they had seen before.

Once they had reached the light, Kairi saw a clearing. Within this clearing lay a cottage surrounded by a picket fence. Kairi hoisted Snow White further up her back and walked over to the door. She peered in through the window to see any signs of life. Kairi couldn't see properly so pushed up against the door. Without any caution, it opened up and Kairi fell through. She just managed to regain herself with Snow White. Kairi placed her onto a small sofa that lay just underneath a small window. After seeing the size of these things, Kairi began to realise everything else was smaller. Even the top of the open staircase was easily reachable from the floor. Kairi searched the cupboards to try and find some smelling salts to try and bring Snow White back round. When she failed to do so, she grabbed a couple of cushions and placed then under Snow Whites back.

"There you are," she murmured. "Hmm." Kairi stood up and looked round the house. "It looks a bit dirty in here. Well I guess it's the least we could for the owner." Kairi then went under the stairs and pulled out a broom.

An hour had passed and Kairi was still going at the cleaning. Snow White had reawakened but was still weak from the fight.

"I'm feeling much better Kairi," she said. "I can help you if you want."

"No, no it's alright," Kairi persisted. "You need to rest. I don't know if that darkness has any side effects so it's just best it you stay…" Kairi stopped in mid sentence. She heard noises and it seems she wasn't the only one to hear it. Snow White looked round through the window.

"Oh dear someone's coming," she cried and made her way over to Kairi.

"…I'm sure I can help with your problem." Sora came through the door followed by a small man no higher than Sora's waist. Sora stopped in his tracks and his eyes met Kairi's.

"Who's this?" yelled the small man.

"Doc, this is Kairi," Sora said. "Kairi, this is my friend Doc."

"Oh I'm sorry for the intrusion," Kairi explained. "You see my friend became feint and needed a place to rest. Oh by the way, this is Snow White."

"Snow White eh," said another small man who barged his way through Sora and Doc.

"Grumpy, don't be so rude," yelled Doc.

"What. I was just about to say it's an interesting name," Grumpy said.

"Yes but it was rude the way you said it," Doc complained.

"You two please stop fighting," said Snow White.

"So what had exactly happened to Snow White?" Sora asked.

"Umm I'd better tell you later," Kairi said. "And that problem you mentioned?"

"Oh it's just something that happened in the mines," Sora said.

"Yeah you and that guy collapsed the whole thing," Grumpy yelled.

"For the last time I didn't do it! Neither did he. It was the heartless," Sora yelled.

"Sora I think we'd better leave," Kairi said. "I have a feeling you didn't get on well with Grumpy before."

"Yeah sure," said Sora. "See you another time Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Happy, Sleepy, Dopey and Sneezy."

"See you Sora," they all said. Kairi looked behind Sora and saw five other small men each with different clothing and stature but each as tall as the other.

"Oh my so many of you," said Snow White. "I think I'm gonna stay here and help these men. It's the least I could do for entering their house without their permission."

"Oh and what makes you think we're gonna let you stay," Grumpy complained.

"Oh don't be that way. Of course you can stay dear," Doc smiled.

"Ok then we'll see you later then," Sora said.

Sora walked out of the door with Kairi behind him. She almost immediately interrogated Sora straight away.

"Whats this about the mine collapsing?" she said looking him up and down. "And what happened to your clothes?"

"Well I was trying to find the dwarfs because they got scared and went into hiding," Sora started. "Mawlix appeared before I could find Grumpy and he sent an army of Heartless to attack the walls. In the end I was forced to just find Grumpy and evacuate." Kairi sensed he was lying. "So what happened to you?"

"Pronex happened," Kairi said. "He attacked us in the forest and somehow possessed Snow White with this artificial darkness. He says it can penetrate even the lightest of hearts. Apparently what it does is transforms the light rather than expanding the darkness already there. This way they can attack even the purest of hearts."

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing."

"Just a bit."

BOOM. The cottage behind them burst into flames. The dwarfs and Snow White ran out screaming. Out came Pronex smiling, he then disappeared in a dark portal. Another bang and an explosion happened behind them. In the distance was a large firework-like explosion.

"Sora you look after Snow White and the dwarfs. I'm gonna go and help Riku," Kairi yelled.

"Ok go and do that," Sora said as he drew his keyblade. Kairi drew her Springs Despair and ran into the forest. The cool breeze rushing on her face. After a few minutes she emerged out of the other side to see even more firework explosions. As she drew closer to the dark forest, the explosions became louder. Eventually Kairi reached the other side and saw a towering castle surrounded by darkness. The explosions seemed to be coming from behind the high wall. Kairi climbed through a broken section of wall to see Riku fighting a woman. Kairi shot a ball of light at the woman who was then knocked to one side. Riku looked round to see Kairi running towards him.

"Riku!" she yelled

"Kairi? Where's Sora?" he asked.

"Sora's helping some friends of ours. Who's that woman," Kairi replied.

"I am no ordinary woman you naïve girl," said the woman who then regained herself. "Oh this one has a strong heart. I wonder how strong it'll become once I defeat you too."

**To Be Continued.**


	5. Magic Mirror, on the Wall

**Continued**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 5**

**Magic Mirror, on the Wall.**

**Riku's Story**

Riku wandered into the darkest of the woods leaving Sora and Kairi behind. He started to feel alone so comforted himself by spinning around his Way to the Dawn. Once through the other side, he saw a large wall with a wooden door further down. Riku ran over to the door and tried to heave it open. After 10 minutes, he had to accept the fact that it wouldn't budge. In the end resorted to violence. Riku went back to the forest exit and aimed his Way to the Dawn at the wall. He cast a dark Firaga and blasted a hole through the wall. Bricks and dust flew everywhere. They scattered over the courtyard which Riku then stepped into. The courtyard was dark and damp. Broken bricks and platforms had collapsed shattering the floor beneath it. Moss had grown along the sides of the walls with random trees growing too from within the structure of the wall. All of this was surrounding a towering castle, dark and foreboding.

"Someone obviously doesn't get out much," Riku muttered. Sword at the ready, he made his was deeper into the castle grounds.

A few minutes on he found another wooden door. This one was open. Riku creaked open the door but stopped. He heard cogs turning. He peered in through the door and saw a couple of cogs holding onto a rope. The rope lead out through a hole in the wall and outside. Riku looked up and saw it attacked to the bottom panel of a box. The box had opened slightly. Riku saw through the crack large, black spike balls. He assumed that if the door was opened, it would release the spike balls and kill whoever was beneath them. Riku also predicted that the weight of the door was just enough to keep it in place. Blasting a hole in it would activate the trap. Riku decided to walk around and try and find another entrance. Again he gave up and was forced to try and get through the door. His plan of action was smart yet foolish. He stood a few yards away from the door, weapon at the ready. He ran forwards straight at the door. When a few inches away he cast dark Firaga which burnt the door away. Almost immediately, he leapt forwards only just avoiding a barrage of spiked balls. He managed to escape with his shoe torn slightly.

"Damn I liked those shoes," he complained. "Guess I can't complain. I mean I only just managed to survive." Riku brushed himself off and walked further into the castle.

Eventually, Riku saw an eerie glow coming from round a corner. He also heard a voice.

"Magic mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" There was another voice, a deeper voice but Riku couldn't make out what it was. But he found out the first person didn't like their opinion. "What! How dare there be another maiden fairer than I." Riku looked round the corner to see who was speaking. He saw a tall woman with pale complexion. She wore a large purple cape with a long purple dress underneath. She wore a large, golden crown on her dark hair. "Pronex, it is time for you to prove to me your creation will work." Riku gasped as Pronex stepped out of the darkness. He held what looked like a land mine except it was pure black.

"Whom do you wish to posses my queen?" he asked.

"I would like you to go down to the forest and ambush this young maiden." Riku leant further round the corner to see the queen pointing at a mirror. A picture formed showing a young girl not much younger than he was.

"As you wish my queen," Pronex replied. "With this dark bomb, artificial darkness will swarm the area and attack the person with the most light in their heart. Snow White will not know what hit her."

"Sir we have an intruder." Mawlix stepped out of the darkness behind Riku and pushed him in plain view. "I think he must have overheard you."

"Insolent brat," snarled the queen. "Pronex, do what you must. I'm sure Mawlix and I can handle this child."

"I'm no child!" Riku yelled. He broke free from Mawlixs grip and drew his weapon. He ran full pelt at the queen to strike her down. The queen however cast a green light behind her and stepped out of the way. Riku tripped and hit the mirror which now started to glow a pale green. He fell through the glass and landed on a glowing, purple floor. After a few seconds, he looked out of the entrance as to which he fell through. He could see the room he was just in. He could see Pronex disappearing into a dark portal, the queen smiling at him in her evil way and, what surprised him most, Mawlix holding his body. He couldn't understand why he was in the mirror and outside but didn't like the thought. He banged and banged on the now solid glass yelling insults at the queen. She only smiled more while the glass disappeared behind a purple veil of light sealing him inside the room.

"I see my queen has brought a new victim into my chamber." Riku looked behind himself to see a large face looking down at him. It looked more like a mask rather than a face but still moved its mouth when talking. "Would you like to learn your fate." The Magic Mirror moved away from Riku and sank into the ground. Riku subsequently followed. As he moved closer to the area, a buzzing sound was emitted. When he reached the spot where it disappeared, the buzzing stopped and 10 faces appeared around him encircling him. Each one shot globs of purple fire at him. Riku deflected as many as he could at the faces but none reacted. He was then forced to dodge as many as he could while trying to find the real face.

"Ha, ha, ha," Riku heard. He turned round and saw one of the faces was smiling slightly. Ducking and diving over projectiles he slashed at the face. All the others disappeared and the real one writhed in pain. Riku hacked and slashed at it before it retaliated with a head-butt. It once again flew off into the distance and sank into the ground.

Riku ran forward again to catch up to it but was once again became trapped. The magic mirror had once again multiplied itself and come out of the floor but this time in a long line either side of Riku. They once again shot purple projectiles at him. Riku ran down the long line of faces while dodging the projectiles. A couple of minutes had gone by and Riku felt like he was running on a perpetual loop. There was no end, just lots of faces. Riku resorted to jumping side to side while inspecting each face. He eventually found one of the faces wasn't firing projectiles. Riku attacked and once again, every other face disappeared. The magic mirror then sank into the ground once again but right in front of Riku. Riku looked down and saw the magic mirror below him. It was as if Riku was standing on glass. The magic mirror shot a large purple laser and started to chase Riku across the ground. As it did this it, it went further and further into the ground. Riku ran around in circles avoiding this giant laser which some how became larger and larger. It then stopped and Riku looked down. The magic mirror then went for a rocket head-butt. Riku didn't dodge out of the way but jumped just as it reached the surface. The magic mirror flew through the ground and up at the airborne Riku. Riku then somersaulted round with his weapon and slashed at the face. The magic mirror was deflected into the wall which then started to shatter like broken glass. The magic mirror then fainted next to it, limp and lifeless. Riku ran towards the broken wall and jumped through it, landing on the concrete floor that he was thrown from. The magic mirror then regained itself and looked out of its oval prison.

"It seems you have defeated me young urchin, your prize is you may ask me a question," it said with a snarl. Riku fell silent for a few seconds then replied with his question.

"Mirror, mirror, listen well, what did they do with my clone? You must tell."

"Mawlix took the body to test out his artificial darkness; he sent it on your friend along with the heartless."

"Oh crap!" Riku ran out of the room and back out into the courtyard. Just as he reached the front yard a burst of purple and green flame erupted out of the ground revealing the queen.

"Insolent brat, how did you escape the mirror?"

"It seems your mirror had a flaw."

"I'll show you who has flaws." She fired green fireballs at Riku who subsequently deflected them into the air. They blew up like fireworks in the air letting off green light. One stray bullet hit the side of the castle and bricks blasted from the side raining down on the battle. Riku dove out of the way of one particularly large brick while the queen just disappeared into green and purple flames. She reappeared five metres above the ground aiming her staff upwards. She cast balls of light above her which all then exploded into lots of sparks. The queen then aimed her staff at Riku making the multiple sparks rain down on him. Riku managed to deflect most of the sparks back but some of them cut up his arms. The queen then disappeared and reappeared behind Riku.

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" she laughed and her staff was raised above her head. Before she could attack though a ball of light her side and she was knocked away. Riku looked round to see Kairi running towards him.

"Riku!" she yelled

"Kairi? Where's Sora?" he asked.

"Sora's helping some friends of ours. Who's that woman," Kairi replied.

"I am no ordinary woman you naïve girl," said the queen who then regained herself. "Oh this one has a strong heart. I wonder how strong it'll become once I defeat you too."

The queen aimed her staff behind her and sent a ball of red light behind her. The light swerved round the corner and through the front entrance.

"What the heck was that?" Riku yelled

"Oh you'll see you brat," the queen laughed. A few seconds passed and a large shadow loomed over them. Riku and Kairi looked up to see a large purple and yellow face.

"Wh… What is that?" Kairi stammered.

"It's the magic mirror, she released it."

"Both of you seem to act brave, let's see this in battle tiny knaves," the magic mirror boomed. It shot large balls of fire down onto the playing field breaking it up to create platforms. Riku steadied himself while Kairi crouched to be less effected by the earth breaking. They all stood in battle stances with the magic mirror creating a shade above them. It seemed like this was to be one of their toughest fights.

**Yes it did take a while to find the perfect words for the magic mirrors speeches. Anyway enjoy the final part of dwarf woodlands.**


	6. Problems in the Mine

**Ok last part of dwarf woodlands. And this time it's Sora. Two things to point out, you may have already figured out the plot line but I still would love for you to read. One last point, make sure you pay attention to Riku's fighting style in this part.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 6**

**Problems in the Mines**

**Sora's Story**

Sora walked along the path towards the mountains. He drew his Keyblade and started to throw it around. He threw it off the rocky walls and it rebounded back into his hand. Eventually he came to a cliff edge and looked down into a canyon of wooden bridges and mine carts on tracks. They were either completely empty or full of jewels.

"Wow these miners must be filthy rich," he exclaimed. As he smiled he jumped off the cliff and fell into forward rolls down onto a ramp that led into the canyon. He jumped out of the roll but mistimed the landing and fell onto his face. Regaining himself and brushing himself down, Sora walked over to one of the full mine carts. Lots of shining gems of red, blue, green and white filled the whole cart as well as lots of rocks. "Hmm I wonder if I could mine some for myself." Sora, with a giddy smile, wandered over to one of the open mine entrances.

At first it was just a dark tunnel but after a few seconds he saw some light from a couple of oil lanterns. Going towards the light, Sora reached on open area filled with more mine carts and electric lights. Jewels were jutting out of the walls as well as mine carts half filled with them. In the distance Sora could hear the clang of metal hitting rock. He went down another path and saw another open area. He hid behind a boulder and looked to see the workers. At first he couldn't see them but could see 7 pickaxes seemingly floating in mid air. Sora crept a little higher and he saw 7 short men mining the jewels. One of them then put down his pickaxe and carried the jewels he had mined over to one of the half full mine carts. Soon after, he returned and 2 others did the same.

"Come on Sleepy, you're not working up to standard," said the larger of the two.

"Aww please Doc let me just have…" THUD. The man named Sleepy falls to the floor, fast asleep.

"Sleepy! Wake up!" yelled a third man.

"Stop yelling Grumpy. You're not helping," said the man named Doc. At this Sora couldn't help but laugh.

"Huh who's there?" asked the man named Grumpy who held up his pickaxe as a weapon. Sora stepped slowly out from behind the boulder with his hands up.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean you harm," he said. "I was just trying to find something."

"Well get out," yelled Grumpy. "If you're looking for something, it certainly won't be in this here mine."

"But that's just it. No normal person can find this thing."

"I said get out!" Grumpy launched the pickaxe in an act of rage straight for Sora. Without thinking, Sora drew his Keyblade and deflected the weapon.

"He's a wizard!" Grumpy exclaimed.

"Run!" yelled Doc as he turned round for the opposite exit. The other 5 men followed suit. Sleepy however was blissfully unaware and had woken up from his short nap.

"Where is everyone?" he asked himself.

"They've run away," Sora said. "Do you know where they'll have gone?"

"Probably gone off to their (yawn) favourite hiding places," Sleepy said. "They normally only hide when there's an attack on the mine."

"Well believe me, I'm not gonna attack you."

"No I can see you wouldn't. I'll help you (yawn) find them." Sleepy got up from the ground, rubbed his head, and walked over to the exit the other men went through. "By the way, my name is (yawn) Sleepy. I'm one of the 7 dwarfs of the forest."

"Nice to meet you Sleepy, I'm Sora."

"Good to meet you Sora."

"So who was that other dwarf then?"

"Who, Doc?"

"Yeah the one who had a go at that other dwarf, Grumpy. He seems to be quite smart."

"Yeah he considers himself as the (yawn) leader. He normally hides in one of the mine carts." Sora and Sleepy walked down the mine and into another, larger area. There was only one mine cart. Sora peered inside and saw Doc inside covering his head.

"Doc?" Sora said.

"Wuh… how do you…?" he said. Doc then turned to Sleepy. "You told him? Why?"

"Cause I trust Sora. He looks like a normal, (yawn) sensible boy. He wouldn't cause harm."

"Hmm… alright. I believe you. Hey guys!" Within a few seconds, 4 other dwarfs stepped out of their hiding places and surrounded Sora. "Sora I'd like you to meet Happy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey." He gestured to each one in turn, each one smiled, even Sneezy with a weak grin but gave up and sneezed loudly.

"Umm there are only 6 of you. Where's Grumpy?" Sora asked.

"Oh he's probably further down the mine," suggested Doc. "I'll go and take you there. You never know, you could find that thing you mentioned."

"Yeah why not," Sora smiled. As they all walked further down the mine, Sora heard the sound of a dark portal appearing. He froze and drew his Keyblade. Doc stopped also and turned round.

"Whats wrong?" Sora asked.

"Hey Sora. How ya doing?" Riku walked round the corner with a smile on his face.

"Riku?" Sora exclaimed, releasing his grip on his Keyblade. "I thought you were exploring those woods?"

"Yeah. Turns out it was just a forest. Leads to nowhere," he explained. "Although I did find this." Riku reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black crystal. "What do you think it is?" Riku stepped forward and handed Sora the crystal.

"Where exactly did you find this?" Sora asked.

"It was just lying under a tree, slightly buried."

"Oh really?" Sora walked over to one of the lights and examined the crystal. He could see a dark gas swirling around inside it. It seemed more like a glass casing rather than a crystal.

"Well?" Riku asked

"Well I've found 3 things odd about this crystal. First, this crystal seems to be holding darkness inside it."

"So you think Pronex might have dropped it?" asked Riku.

"Maybe. But the second detail is that the glass is extremely thin. Its almost as if the person who made this was wanting their victim to break it themselves."

"Yeah so?"

"If Pronex dropped it, it would have broken instantly. Also I don't think you found this. The third detail I found was that it has no sign of dirt on it." Sora Held the crystal in one hand and held his weapon up in the other. "What are you playing at Riku?" Sora threw the crystal at Riku who then caught it carefully.

"Hmm. What are you talking about?" Riku asked. His then puzzling face turned into a menacing glare. He threw the crystal up into the air and as it came back down, he punched it into the ground where it broke. Almost instantly, the darkness inside it created a wave that flung the 6 dwarfs into the rocky wall rendering them unconscious.

"Why do you always have to be the hero?" Riku growled. "Why do you have to be the centre of the universe? How would you like for someone else to take that role? Maybe someone like me." Riku drew his weapon and ran straight for Sora. He pinned him up against the wall with his Way to the Dawn. Sora, struggling for breath, swung his Keyblade into Riku's back and pushed him away.

"Whats wrong with you?" Sora yelled. Sora rushed forwards and slashed at Riku stomach slicing open his shirt. Sora saw on his chest the heartless emblem emblazoned like a tattoo.

"You see he's one of us now." Mawlix stepped round the corner smiling. "He succumbed to the artificial darkness that was created by Zurox. He never even stood a chance."

"You take that back!" Sora yelled and he ran at Mawlix. Just as he swung, Riku stepped in between them and slashed Sora into the wall.

"Riku. I give you control of the heartless. Use them well," Mawlix said as he disappeared into a dark portal. Multiple Shadow heartless then came out from the ground. Heartless portals appeared and multiple Zip Slashers erupted out of them.

"Run!" Sora yelled signalling for the dwarfs to escape. "I'll find Grumpy and come out as soon as possible."

"Ok Sora. You heard him boys," Doc said. All 6 of them ran towards the exit leaving Sora, Riku and hundreds of heartless to fight. The Zip Slashers made the first move by walking away and attacking the walls.

"Soon this mine will be your tomb," Riku beckoned. He ran forwards and slashed at Sora who only just blocked the attack. Riku then grabbed Sora's weapon and swung him around and threw him up into the ceiling. Riku then stabbed up into him and pinned him up by the blade through Sora's sleeve. Riku dropped down and shot a dark Firaga right at him. Defenceless, Sora took the blast and fell limp. Sora gained enough strength to unhook himself but upon release, fell to the ground. Riku was now armed with the Keyblade and Sora had the Way to the Dawn. Riku threw the Keyblade at Sora who weakly deflected it. Sora then caught the weapon in mid air and cast Curaga. He felt a new strength rush through him and he felt revitalised. Sora dual wielded the weapons and ran forward at Riku. He scissor slashed at him knocking him backwards.

"Ugh you'll pay for that Sora," Riku complained. He summoned his weapon back and ran further into the mine.

"Wait!" Sora gave chase forgetting about the Zip Slashers trying to make the mine collapse. A few seconds passed when Sora heard shouting.

"Cannonball!" Grumpy fell from a hole in the ceiling and fell into Sora's arms. "Hey what are you doing here?"

"Not now Grumpy we have to leave. Me and Doc are on good terms. You can trust me."

"Fine whatever. I felt earthquakes so I decided to evacuate."

"Oh damn the Zip Slashers." Sora put grumpy down and ran back into the open area. The Zip Slashers had disappeared but the mine continued to shake.

"And now for the final blast!" Riku ran past them and pushed a button in his hand. An explosion erupted from the inner mine and blasted towards them.

"Argh!" Sora picked Grumpy up and carried him all the way as fast as he could. He eventually reached the exit where the fire then dissipated into the air. Then there was a rumble and the mine collapsed.

"Now is that everyone safe?" Sora asked looking around for Riku. Sora guessed he must have disappeared.

"Yes it's only us 7 that work in the mine." Doc said. "Who was that boy?"

"He… He's no one. I… don't know him," Sora sighed.

"Those injuries look bad Sora. We'll take you back and fix you up real good," said Doc.

"Yeah…sure," Sora sighed. As they started to walk off, Sora stayed in place for a few seconds. "Why did you do that?" he then ran off after the dwarfs.

Sora had managed to catch up to them just as they reached the forest edge. Sora could see a small cottage ahead. He assumed that's where they were heading.

"We won't be able to mine for a few weeks now," Sleepy sighed.

"Oh never mind. I mean look on the bright side, we can all do what we want now," said Happy.

"Argh shut your trap Happy," Grumpy growled. "We all know we were happier working."

"Look don't worry," said Sora as he reached the door, pushing it open. "I'm sure I can help with your problem." Shock and awe struck Sora. Kairi was standing there with a young woman next to her. Doc squeezed past him to get a better look.

"Who's this?" yelled Doc.

"Doc, this is Kairi," Sora said. "Kairi, this is my friend Doc."

"Oh I'm sorry for the intrusion," Kairi explained. "You see my friend became feint and needed a place to rest. Oh by the way, this is Snow White."

"Snow White eh," said Grumpy who barged his way through Sora and Doc.

"Grumpy, don't be so rude," yelled Doc.

"What. I was just about to say it's an interesting name," Grumpy said.

"Yes but it was rude the way you said it," Doc complained.

"You two please stop fighting," said Snow White.

"So what had exactly happened to Snow White?" Sora asked.

"Umm I'd better tell you later," Kairi said. "And that problem you mentioned?"

"Oh it's just something that happened in the mines," Sora said.

"Yeah you and that guy collapsed the whole thing," Grumpy yelled.

"For the last time I didn't do it! Neither did he. It was the heartless," Sora yelled.

"Sora I think we'd better leave," Kairi said. "I have a feeling you didn't get on well with Grumpy before."

"Yeah sure," said Sora. "See you another time Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Happy, Sleepy, Dopey and Sneezy."

"See you Sora," they all said. Kairi looked behind Sora and saw more dwarfs behind Sora.

"Oh my so many of you," said Snow White. "I think I'm gonna stay here and help these men. It's the least I could do for entering their house without their permission."

"Oh and what makes you think we're gonna let you stay," Grumpy complained.

"Oh don't be that way. Of course you can stay dear," Doc smiled.

"Ok then we'll see you later then," Sora said.

Sora walked out of the door with Kairi behind him. She almost immediately interrogated Sora straight away.

"Whats this about the mine collapsing?" she said looking him up and down. "And what happened to your clothes?"

"Well I was trying to find the dwarfs because they got scared and went into hiding," Sora started. "Mawlix appeared before I could find Grumpy and he sent an army of Heartless to attack the walls. In the end I was forced to just find Grumpy and evacuate." Kairi sensed he was lying. "So what happened to you?"

"Pronex happened," Kairi said. "He attacked us in the forest and somehow possessed Snow White with this artificial darkness. He says it can penetrate even the lightest of hearts. Apparently what it does is transforms the light rather than expanding the darkness already there. This way they can attack even the purest of hearts."

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing."

"Just a bit."

BOOM. The cottage behind them burst into flames. The dwarfs and Snow White ran out screaming. Out came Pronex smiling, he then disappeared in a dark portal. Another bang and an explosion happened behind them. In the distance was a large firework-like explosion.

"Sora you look after Snow White and the dwarfs. I'm gonna go and help Riku," Kairi yelled.

"Ok go and do that," Sora said as he drew his keyblade. Kairi drew her Springs Despair and ran into the forest. Sora ran towards the house and ran inside. Scattered across the floor was hundreds of small crystals, each looking like the one that possessed Riku. Sora ran out again and counted everyone.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked.

"Yes we're fine," Doc said. "That man appeared and before we knew it, explosions went off, just like the one in the mine."

"They must have been planted before hand," Sora said. "I can't cast water so I can't help."

"Don't worry we have a plan," said Doc. "Alright men you know what to do!" They all rushed off into the woods except for Doc who ran behind the burning house. "The waters on boys!" A jet of water then shot out of the woods. The 6 other dwarfs then came out and were holding onto a large hose pipe coming from an unknown source. "There's a well out back which gets its supply from the mountains. You go on ahead and help your friend."

"Thanks Doc," Sora smiled. He then suddenly frowned and ran off into the woods where Kairi went. "I will find out whats wrong Riku."

Several minutes passed when Sora reached a giant wall after going through yet another forest. In this wall was a giant hole. Sora peered through and saw Kairi and Riku standing in the middle of the field and yelling at an old woman. Above them was what looked like a giant face. It was purple and yellow and loomed over them like a shadow. Sora over heard the conversation.

"It's the magic mirror, she released it," Riku yelled

"Both of you seem to act brave, let's see this in battle tiny knaves," the magic mirror boomed. It shot large balls of fire down onto the playing field breaking it up to create platforms. Riku steadied himself while Kairi crouched to be less effected by the earth breaking. Riku was about to attack when Sora burst through the gap in the wall and drew the keyblade, rage in his heart.

"Oh and here's number 3," said the woman. "You are on the queen's turf now, my turf. There is no way I will lose to the likes of you!" The queen raised her staff and the broken floor flew up, closer to the magic mirror. Sora stayed on one platform while Riku and Kairi were on their own. The Queen had raised her own platform in the centre. She raised her staff and shot projectiles at each of them. Sora deflected his into the magic mirror as did Kairi. Riku was trying to deflect them straight at the queen. Unfortunately the magic mirror created a shield which only allowed attacks out so the projectiles rebounded twice as fast back at Riku who was hit. Kairi cast cure on Riku but Sora turned a blind eye on him. Sora tried his luck by attacking the magic mirror every time he wasn't aimed at. In no time at all, the magic mirror yelled in pain and the queen's shield went down. She then stopped her attacks to heal the magic mirror. Sora and Kairi jumped onto the queen's platform and attacked her with their weapons. Riku however had other plans and attacked the magic mirror.

The queen stopped the healing and continued the onslaught. Sora and Kairi were blasted back onto their platforms and knocked over. Riku hit the Magic mirror once more and instantly a crack appeared in the side. Green mist burst out of it making the magic mirror weak. Sora looked up to see Riku attack the queen.

He ran forwards and slashed at the queen who only just blocked the attack. Riku then grabbed the queen's weapon and swung her around and threw her up into the magic mirror. Riku then stabbed up into her and pinned her up by the blade through the queen's sleeve. Riku dropped down and shot a dark Firaga right at her. Defenceless, the queen took the blast and fell limp. She gained enough strength to unhook herself but upon release, fell to the ground.

Sora's rage grew and grew within him. Riku then picked up his Way to the Dawn and slashed down onto the queen finishing her off. The magic Mirror limply healed himself and the queen. He then transported both of them away from the scene. The platforms then fell to the ground with a crunch.

"Ha, piece of cake," Riku said. "I guess those beings of creation aren't here. What do you say me all meet up with Yuffie and the gang." He turned round smiling but was then hit into the ground by Sora, anger contorted his face.

"How could you turn to the darkness Riku!" he yelled hitting Riku again.

"Sora! Stop!" Kairi yelled. "What's he ever done to you?"

"This traitor attacked me in the mines and almost killed me," Sora yelled.

"What? I would never do that," Riku complained. "I was stuck at the castle the whole time."

"Are you sure? Cause there was someone in the mine who looked an awful lot like you," Sora yelled. "How do you explain that?"

"Oh that's what they did."

"Did what?" Kairi asked.

"I was trapped in a mirror but a sort of clone appeared as I broke the surface," Riku explained. "I was left to attack the magic mirror while they must have bewitched that clone to attack you. Question is, why?" Sora stayed quiet for a few minutes. He eventually helped Riku up.

"Fine. This better be the truth Riku."

"I'm your friend. Why would I lie?"

"Come on guys. Let's go back to the ship," Kairi said. She walked over to the hole in the wall and jumped through.

"I'm sorry I attacked you Riku," Sora said.

"It could happen to anyone," Riku laughed.

"Hey guys!" Kairi appeared through the hole in the wall. "We need some new clothes. Mine were torn up during my fight with the possessed Snow white."

"Oh yeah we could do with some new battle gear," Riku complained.

"Ok let's just go and find Yuffie and the others," said Sora. Sora and Riku walked to Kairi, then they all walked back through the forest to find their ship.

**If you've been reading my stories then you will know that this was my first set of chapters in this form. I might not do it again for a while. Remember, if you would like me to write about a kingdom hearts world or write a new Disney world in; please send your suggestion with a review. Thank you and chapter 7 will be done as soon as possible.**


	7. Fresh Start

**This is just to introduce the new clothes that I've decided them to wear and maybe some other stuff could happen. Just to point out, Sora and Kairi are both 16 and Riku 17 so you have to imagine them being just a bit older.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 7**

**Fresh Start**

As the ship left dwarf woodland's atmosphere, Sora went up to the balcony dome, Kairi to her room and Riku at the controls trying to contact Yuffie.

"Hello Yuffie. Come in Yuffie. This is Riku reporting back from Dwarf Woodlands. Do you read?"

"…" No reply.

"Come in Yuffie."

"…BZZT… Hello?"

"Marcus?"

"Is that Riku?"

"Yes. How did your mission go?"

"Not good," said Marcus. "We still haven't found any of the creatures."

"Well we scouted the whole of Dwarf Woodlands and none what so ever."

"Neverland is quite a large world. You'll have to give us some time."

"Ok. Oh by the way, do you know where we are able to get some new clothes?"

"Why what happened?"

"Well it's a long story," said Riku. "Look do you know anywhere?"

"Patch through your current co-ordinates."

…

"Ok put these co-ordinates in. There is a small world called Traverse Town nearby. No more that 20 minutes away and the standard speed." Riku received the co-ordinates in and put them up on screen.

"Ok. If you need help later, I'll take a radio and you just give me a call."

"Ok will do. Marcus over and out." Riku hit the auto pilot and ran to Kairi's room to tell her the news. They then went up to the balcony dome to see Sora looking up at the stars.

"You're thinking about home aren't you," said Kairi making Sora jump to his feet.

"Yeah I am," he sighed. "I'm just missing my parents. I wonder what they are thinking."

"Well I wouldn't dwell on it," said Riku. "The world has been covered in artificial darkness and it's our job to destroy it. Oh by the way Sora, soon we'll get to a small world called Traverse Town. We can get new gear there."

"Ok that's good. I think I'm going to go to my room." Sora walked past them and downstairs.

"I think he's still upset from when he thought that clone was you," Kairi sighed. "anyone would feel defeated if they thought their friend turned against them."

"I suppose," Riku said. "I'm gonna keep out of his way for now."

"Ok I'm gonna stay with him and give him company," said Kairi. "We haven't really had much time together as boyfriend and girlfriend recently."

"I'll see you later then. Just control yourself," Riku laughed.

"Just try and stop me." Kairi walked down the stairs and down the hall into Sora's room. Riku walked over to the control desk and rested his weight onto the metal. His head then dropped as he fell upset.

Not much time had passed when the ship landed on the outskirts of Traverse Town. They went through a large door and entered a courtyard. It looked very clean for a town. It also seemed quite quiet. Sora walked over to a shop that was just up a small set of stairs. Kairi and Riku followed. Inside was bright yellow giving it a warm feel. A man stood behind the green desk dusting the glass cabinets behind him. He turned around and saw the trio.

"What you kids doing in here?" he said.

"Uh sorry we're kinda lost. Do you know where we can get some clothes?"

"Yeah I can tell you need some. They look like self cleaning battle gear. You want pixel clothing. You'll find them in the second district," said the shop owner.

"Ok thanks. Umm so what do you sell?" Kairi asked.

"Me? Oh I sell Gummi Ship components. Now that I take a closer look at you, you aren't from around here are you?"

"No we're from a small world called Sunset islands," Riku said.

"Ahh, my friend's from Sunset Islands. Hardly ever see him now. You don't know Squall Leonhart do you?"

"Yeah went to our school. I don't think he mentioned anyone from another world before," said Sora.

"Well he wouldn't. Not seen him in years."

"Well we'll mention we met you," said Sora. "We'd better go and buy some gear."

"The name's Cid by the way," said the owner. "Tell him Cid would like to catch up with him."

"Ok well see you then," smiled Kairi. The three of them left the shop and headed for the pixel clothing.

The trio reached the second district and looked around for the pixel clothing sign. In the centre was another courtyard with a gizmo shop up at the far end.

"There!" Kairi pointed to the right at a shop with 3 different colours on the front with a shirt and shorts all in neon lights. They entered the store and again looked around. It was just as bright on the inside as it was on the outside. There seemed to be 3 tiers to the shop. The highest tier had some sort of large contraption, looking a bit like a car wash. Sora stepped forward but was immediately halted due to a loud noise emitting through the shop. 3 holograms appeared depicting the shapes of three women each in different coloured clothing.

"Hello customers. My name is Flora," said the red hologram.

"My name is Fauna," said the green hologram.

"And my name is Merryweather," said the blue hologram. "If this is you're first time hear, please say 'Blue.'"

"Blue!" said Sora.

"Ok then dears, here's how this works. As you can tell, we are just mere holograms," Merryweather explained. "In order to obtain you're desired clothes, you must insert 200 munny into the machine and choose a designated colour, preferably blue."

"Merryweather! Don't decide a colour for the customers," said Fauna. "You can choose any colour you like. When you have chosen your colour and inserted 200 munny, stand on the circular plate at the far end of the machine and hit 'Start.' From this point onwards, stand perfectly still or the machine will not work."

Fauna disappeared and reappeared next to the computer on the machine. "Insert your munny here and choose your colour on this," she said.

Sora walked over to the machine and took his wallet out. Thankfully for him, Sunset Islands also used munny as their currency. He inserted 200 munny and chose his colour.

"Very good," said Flora. She disappeared and reappeared at the far end of the machine. "Would you please stand here and hit 'Start.'" Sora walked over to the machine and stood on the circular platform.

"What did you choose Sora?" Riku asked.

"Black of course." He hit the 'Start' button and the machine buzzed into life sending him into the machine. Digital lights appeared around him and enclosed him in life. Lots and lots of 0's and 1's all the way through the light. [1]. His ripped clothes disappeared and he was left in his boxer shorts. The platform then started to rotate and the digital light went down to his feet. The light then rose up his body. Shoes and socks appeared on his feet. Long shorts appeared and then the top of his body is covered up. Sora then appeared on the other side of the machine, all covered in his new clothes.

Sora was kitted out with black and white trainers. Along the side was the keyblade in white on the black background. The rubber base was also white. Sora's shorts were pure black as well. They went over his knees with white thorns coming from the bottom of the legs. White straps crossed over each other around the crotch and a couple of waist bags, which were also white, held around his waist. His torso clothing had taken a complete change. He wore a black shirt with white lightning running up the side. The sleeves covered just over the elbow but were reasonably baggy. He wore a white, sleeveless coat which had black lightning running up the side. Although it had a zipper, the coat was too small to fasten up yet it was long enough to reach the top of his shorts. As an accessory, Sora had a black and white wristband which was in a zigzag pattern. He also had black, fingerless gloves with white X's across the back.

"Whoa this is cool," he exclaimed.

"These clothes are special," said the holographic Merryweather who was also now near the machine. "The lightning and thorns will grow as you defeat enemies. Once they grow to their maximum size, you will be able to unleash a devastating attack."

"This is certainly going to be useful," said Sora. He drew the Keyblade and stood in his battle stance. "What do you think guys?"

"Amazing," Kairi exclaimed.

"Very heroic," said Riku looking impressed.

"Ok my turn," Kairi cheered. She pulled out her purse and inserted 200 munny and chose her colour. "Pink was good, but I think white should have a chance." She stood on the circular platform and hit 'Start'. The digital light once again appeared and wrapped itself around Kairi. Her old clothes disappeared in the light leaving her in her underwear. Once again, the platform started to turn. The light raised itself over Kairi forming her new style. Once the machine stopped, she stepped out and looked down.

Kairi had white trainers on but had pink, flowery patterns on the sides. The rubber base stayed as white but had been outlined with pink. She wore a white dress which was quite large. Although the fabric went just over her knee, the dress was wide as to allow easy movement. The bottom was lined in pink and had a spiky cut. The dress covered her cleavage and had pink lining the edge. The dress was strapless allowing a more human figure around her shoulders. She had black waist bags to hold her items and a white, silk lace wrapped around her right arm. Attached to this was a white glove with pink petals on the back. She also had another, separate glove on the other had in the same pattern. [2].

Kairi turned around and looked into the mirror. She looked herself up and down and smiled.

"This is gorgeous," smiled Kairi.

"You too have special powers within the clothes," said the holographic Flora. "As you defeat enemies, the dress with become pinker around the bottom. When the pink reaches the waist, you can unleash a limited form. You will discover what this means when the time comes."

"Awesome," she said.

"You look very pretty Kai," Sora said. She smiled at the compliment. "Now you Riku."

"Ok, ok fine," he said. He took out his wallet and put in the required, 200 munny. He chose his colour and stood on the platform.

"The machine seems to take your body shape and colour choice to make the perfect clothes suited," Sora remarked.

"Well let's see what they do with grey," he laughed. Hitting the 'Start' button, he stood very still and waited for the light. It took a bit longer than the others but it eventually appeared. The digital light removed his clothes leaving him in his boxers. The platform rotated and the digital light went down to his feet. The light then span around Riku enclosing him in light. On the other side, his clothes too had formed.

His shoes were grey as he had chosen but the base was a mix of black and white, which had fused into swirls. He had grey trousers on that were baggy at the base and firm at the waist. The legs had black flames rising from his ankles. White lined the flame edges and grew in wisps up the legs. He wore a black belt with a silver buckle. Along the belt were metal studs shining in the light. He wore a plain black shirt but had a black coat over the top which could be fastened up. It was fastened halfway as to allow the shirt underneath to be seen. The short sleeves of the coat had white flames and were lined with black. The black of these flames also wisped up the shoulder and around the back. On one hand he had a fingerless glove which was black with white thorns on it.

"Whoa," Riku exclaimed.

"You also have powers," said the holographic Fauna. "As you defeat enemies, the thorns on your glove with start to grow up your arm in black tattoos. Once they reach your shoulder, you will unleash your power. Use it well."

"Man I can't wait to see these powers," said Sora.

"…BZZT… Riku!" The radio sounded from Riku's pocket. Marcus seemed to be in trouble.

"What's wrong Marcus?" Riku asked.

"The world's gone dark," Marcus yelled. "We found one of the creatures but the world has gone dark. We estimate survival low. We are far from the ship. We think the being of creation will leave if the world becomes too cold. We have to escape!"

"Hold on Marcus, we'll help you," Riku said. "Where is your current location?"

"I'll try and patch the co-ordinates of the location in the world," Marcus said. "You'll get them at the ship. Just hurry and transport us to our ship."

"We're on our way," Riku finished. He then turned to Kairi and Sora.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked.

"Marcus and the gang are in trouble," he said. "Neverland has frozen over with darkness. They are trapped and too far from their ship, so for now were on a rescue mission."

"Come on then," said Sora and he ran out the store closely followed by Kairi and Riku.

"Thank you for choosing Pixel Clothes," said the three holograms which smiled as they disappeared.

**[1] Think of Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded.**

**[2] Kinda reminiscent of Young Kairi isn't it.**

**So I would love for you guys to comment on their clothes. It was tough trying to come up with 3 individual designs that work well for the KH games. I have seen multiple stories that use clothing descriptions yet they all seem to use normal clothes. Believe me they do a great job but I don't think I've seen any stories yet that stick to the elaborate style of KH. Thank you for reading and stay tuned.**


	8. Risky Rescue

**Rescue mission time. Right I've decided to ultimately do 5 stories for this journey. If I do choose to write a 6****th**** one, then it will be a completely new journey. So we are officially on the midway story. But for now, enjoy chapter 8.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 8**

**Risky Rescue**

Sora and co find themselves at Neverland again. As they reached the world, they see that half the world has been swallowed in darkness. If the whole world was taken, anyone within the atmosphere will be frozen within its darkened shell. They broke through the atmosphere and landed on one of the many islands.

"Ok Riku. Where are these co-ordinates located?" Sora asked

"My god!" he exclaimed. "There are 3 co-ordinates."

"So?" Sora wondered. "What does that mean?"

"It means that they are stuck in the air," said Riku. "If they are on the ground, they have 2 co-ordinates. But the 3rd co-ordinate suggests they are in the air."

"You don't think they could be being held in some sort of flying vehicle." Sora asked.

"No, there wasn't any background noise," said Riku.

"Well why don't we find Peter Pan?" Kairi suggested. "No one knows this place better than him."

"Yeah let's go for it," said Riku. "According to Marcus's estimations, we have 2 hours before the world is frozen."

"Man I feel bad for using Peter like this," said Sora. "We use him then abandon him. It's just horrible."

"I know but we have no choice," Riku said. "Oh wait, last time we were here, Peter allowed us to fly didn't he?"

"It might still work?" asked Kairi. "Let me try it." Kairi closed her eyes and believed she could fly. A few lifeless seconds later and Kairi became lightheaded. Then almost immediately, started to levitate above the ground. "Yay, it worked." She opened her eyes and flew backwards. "Your turn."

"Fine ok," said Sora. He and Riku both closed their eyes and yet again they were flying.

"Ok so now we can find Peter better this way," said Sora. "Actually, Riku. Call Marcus on the radio and ask what he can see."

"Ok, ok," Riku sighed. He picked up the radio and locked it onto Marcus. "BZZT… Marcus? Can you hear me? We would like to know what you can see?"

"Yeah I can hear you Riku," Marcus replied. "Well I can see a large city. We've also found that we are stood on top of a clock tower."

"Ok thanks."

"Please hurry up… BZZT."

"He says they are near a city on top of a clock tower," Riku reported.

"I don't think there are any cities in Neverland," Sora said. "Especially in the sky."

"What if there is another world within this one?" suggested Kairi. "I mean didn't Peter say that no one grows up here. He also said there was a normal world, a world where people live and never discover Neverland."

"So you think that's where they are?" Riku asked.

"Only one way to find out." Sora swooped towards Riku and took the radio. "You put the upgrade in this didn't you? Well surely it will allow us to lock onto the other radio." Sora then flew into the sky with the radio which now started to beep. Riku and Kairi had no choice but to follow.

The beeping started to speed up but all Sora could see was more sky. He was on the verge of giving up when a bright light started to appear. Sora kept going and the light became brighter and brighter until he was consumed. Sora then appeared in a dark area. Down below were hundreds of glowing, yellow lights. Above him was the night sky with a beautiful white moon. He then looked forwards and saw a large tower, upon which were large clock faces.

"Knew we didn't have to find Peter," Sora smiled. "It was for the best."

"Sora!" Kairi and Riku flew into Sora and started to hit him. "You didn't know what would happen!" Kairi yelled.

"You could have been killed you idiot!" Riku shouted.

"Oi, cut it out," complained Sora. "I found the clock tower didn't I?" He looked over to the tower and saw 5 people sat on the side looking down at the town. One of them (Chloe as Kairi predicted) saw them and started to jump up and down pointing. The others then looked up and tried to wave Sora and the gang down. Sora, Kairi and Riku flew over to the place where Yuffie's group was.

"About time," said Naomi.

"We haven't got long… and you're flying," said Yuffie.

"Yeah you've noticed," said Sora.

"How much time have we got left?" Riku asked.

"Well we predicted about 45 minutes now," said Marcus.

"How did you get here in the first place?" said Riku.

"We saw the yellow being of creation," said Zack. "It used some sort of teleportation ability to take us here. I guess we must have angered it."

"Oh about that, are you sure it's going to leave?" Sora asked.

"I'm sure," Marcus said. "It seemed very angry when it left us here. If anything I'm sure it's already left."

"How are we supposed to get to our ship?" Naomi complained. "We can't fly and I'm sure you 3 can't carry us."

"Well what if we take 3 people first, take one of you to your ship and the other 2 on ours," Sora suggested. "Then the other 2 flying people go back and get the others."

"I didn't understand any of that," Zack said.

"How about if Riku, Kairi and I take 3 of the 5 non flyers and take them back. Then Kairi and I come back and get the others. Make sense now?" Sora explained.

"Alright, alright," Zack said. "How about you go Marcus. Go power up the ship and bring it near the other ship."

"I'll go too," said Chloe. "You as well Naomi."

"Fine," Naomi sighed.

Soon, Sora carrying Marcus, Riku carrying Naomi and Kairi carrying Chloe, all flew back through the light. They eventually reached back to the mainland. They all placed down their respective comrades then Riku picked up Marcus.

"Where to now?" he asked.

"Don't worry I can lead you there," said Marcus. "Sora, Kairi. Go and get Yuffie and Zack."

"Ok," they both said. Sora jumped into the air closely followed by Kairi. They nearly reached the light when they were ambushed by Air Pirates and Air Soldiers. Sora drew his Keyblade and swatted one of them away. Kairi drew her Springs Despair and span at one of the heartless. She destroyed one of them and immediately, the bottom of her new dress started to become pinker. Sora swung his keyblade and destroyed an Air Pirate. The white thorns and lightning grew on Sora's clothes devouring some of the black. He continued to defeat heartless and the white patterns continued to grow. Kairi was defeating a fair amount and her dress was now almost pink. No matter how much they could defeat however, they still kept coming and in bigger numbers.

"There's too many!" Sora yelled.

"Sora, you're almost at full power," Kairi yelled back. Sora looked down and saw his white patterns were almost at the top of each item of clothing. He swatted away a couple more and dashed at 2 destroying them. His clothes then began to glow white signalling he was fully charged. Sora held his Keyblade in front of his and closed his eyes. The glowing then surged from the patterns to his keyblade. The handle and guard stayed yellow but the head of they Keyblade had gone under a transformation. The blade had thorns growing out of the top and the shaft seemed to grow an electric force field around it. Sora swung the keyblade at an Air Soldier and it immediately destroyed. He spun and swung the weapon around defeating hundreds of heartless in a matter of seconds. But that's all the time he had. The weapon then flashed and returned back into its original form. The power had vanished.

"Whoa," exclaimed Sora. "Kairi you've gotta try that."

"Ok," she replied. Kairi defeated another 4 heartless when her dress started to glow white too. She held her Springs Despair up into the air and closed her eyes. The glowing went from her dress into the weapon. The Springs Despair then started to glow. Icicles grew from the shaft and curled down to the handle encasing her hand in solid ice. The head grew its own icicles which curled round each other in an icy spiral. Kairi swung her weapon and a wave of ice blew out of the end freezing every enemy in sight. She then aimed her weapon forward. Light emitted from the end and hundreds of ice shards shot out of the end destroying all the frozen heartless. The ice then melted and her weapon returned to what it once was.

"Oh my god what was that?" she said in awe.

"That power those holograms mentioned," said Sora. "We'd better hurry. Yuffie and Zack will be getting worried."

"Ok." Kairi withdrew her weapon and flew into the light followed by Sora. On the other side they saw Yuffie and Zack on the edge of the clock tower. Sora and Kairi flew down to them and started to talk.

"Where have you been?" Yuffie complained. "The world is gonna freeze over soon."

"Yeah I'm freezing over here," Zack moaned.

"Don't worry we can take you back now," said Sora. He went over to Zack and tried to lift him. Even due to Zack's large build, Sora found him surprisingly light. He thought it must have been the magic dust. Kairi lifted Yuffie and hoisted her up onto her back. On the way back up to the light, the sky became even darker. All of the stars had become duller and the city below became more shadowed.

"Come on!" called Sora. They flew even faster and zoomed through the light which had also become darker. As they went through, they saw that the sky had gone from powder blue to musty grey. They started to fly towards Sora's ship when another ship flew in front of them. In the door stood Riku and Marcus. Riku jumped out and flew towards the others.

"I see you got it working," said Sora and he placed Zack inside.

"We need to get Naomi and Chloe," said Kairi as she placed Yuffie in the ship. "Follow us and we'll take you to our ship. That's where they are located." Sora, Kairi and Riku flew forwards followed by Marcus's ship.

"BZZT… Riku we have less than 10 minutes left," said Marcus through the radio.

"Don't worry, it's not too far away…BZZT," Riku replied. They flew as fast as they could till they saw Sora's ship ahead with Naomi and Chloe stood on top of it. Marcus flew close enough for them to hop onto the ship. "We haven't got long left!" Riku yelled. He flew over to his own ship and flew through the door. Kairi and Sora followed and the boosters on the ship blasted into life. Both ships then broke through Neverland's surface. As soon as they broke through, the world flashed black and it completely froze over in darkness. Sora gazed down at it as they flew off.

"I hope they'll be alright there," Sora said. "You know, Peter Pan."

"I can't say for sure but probably," Riku said. "The world freezes over. It's just like when Sunset Islands went into that time lock."

"Well I hope we can fix this soon," sighed Kairi.

"BZZT… Hey it's Yuffie." The loud voice of Yuffie boomed through radio. "Since you got us to search Neverland, we suggest you check out a world we never got to search properly. We'll send the co-ordinates to you now. You'll love Notre Dame."

"Ok we'll check it out," said Sora. "Take care of yourselves this time. Sora, over and out…BZZT."

**I know, I know, the story seemed rushed. I've got a lot of college work to do and have been doing about a scene a day. I would like to thank Ziddy2343 for his suggestion. If you would also like to suggest a world then please do.**


	9. Bells of Notre Dame

**Again I would like to thank Ziddy2343 for his suggestion. Oh and did I not mention, one of his OC's would make an appearance in the story. Now a couple things I would like to point out. One, Ziddy made the OC specifically for this part of the story so you might not see him in Ziddy's stories. Two, this is the first time im using an OC that I didn't create so I have to make this story good. Oh and for legal reasons, I do not own Final Fantasy, Kingdom hearts, Disney, Hunchback of Notre Dame or Ziddy's OC. I just merely use them for entertainment. Enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 9**

**Bells of Notre Dame**

**Welcome to Notre Dame**

"What did Yuffie tell you about Notre Dame?" asked Kairi.

"She said it was an old age town years behind our own," said Riku. "They never got to explore it properly because of rumours going around. Rumours of outsiders running amuck through the streets. We can only guess who they meant."

"Well I guess we get to discover this world ourselves then," said Sora proudly. "Ready to disembark?" he looked out of the window to see the new world, Notre Dame. It was spherical like most worlds. This one was covered in large buildings with an open, square market in the centre. At the edge of the marketplace however was a large chapel with 2 large towers. Upon closer inspection, Sora could make out the shapes of bells within the pillars. With a thud, the ship came to a halt on the outskirts of town.

A few minutes later and the group found themselves in the marketplace. The towering chapel stood before them. Kairi noticed lots of gargoyles surrounding the walls of the chapel. "Those things give me the creeps," she said. "Huh? Did you see that?" Kairi pointed up to the highest point of the left tower. "I saw something swinging around the spire. Something human."

"You're seeing things Kai," said Riku. "We'd better find out if anything strange has been going on." Riku walked over to a crowd of people surrounding a stall selling meat.

"Fresh meat straight from the cow!" yelled the salesman. "You won't find anything fresher in Notre Dame!" Sora walked up to a woman in a white and brown dress.

"Hello. Has anything strange happened recently?" he asked.

"Not that I've heard of," she replied. "Oh you seem like a swordsman. You know there is a tournament later. The best of the best is fighting. Even the champion from last year."

"Hear that Riku. Sword fighting," Sora grinned.

"Yeah, yeah I heard," Riku said. "We have time to kill. Why not?"

"Well good," said the woman. "Just go up to the stall over there and sign up."

An hour passed and a temporary arena had been set up. 32 names were plastered into the wall each connected by lines and empty boxes. Sora and Riku were set up in the first 16 while Kairi was in the second 16. Riku was up first against someone called Artemis. Riku stepped into the ring where another person already stood.

They were about the same height as Riku. They had spiky, auburn hair that was long enough to cover their neckline. They had emerald green eyes and a narrow jaw-line. They didn't appear muscular but had an athletic build. They wore a short sleeve shirt with a blue bottom half and green on the top half. The colours combined at the centre with spikes. They wore green shorts with a black belt that just rested on their waist. They also wore blue trainers which had green stripes down the side. On their back were a bow and a quiver full of arrows. They also had a katana sheathed in its holder on their back.

"There's now way I'm fighting a girl," Riku yelled at the competition holder.

"What did you say?" Artemis said. "Did you just call me a girl?"

"Oh god you're a guy," Riku yelped. "Look I'm sorry man."

"Sorry doesn't mean anything." Artemis drew his bow and within a second had fired his first arrow. Riku had barely enough time to draw his weapon and deflect the attack. Artemis fired 5 arrows in quick succession straight for Riku's stomach. Riku brought up his Way to the Dawn and blocked 4 out of 5 arrows. The 5th one went straight into Riku's left forearm which caused him to writhe in pain.

"No killing!" yelled the announcer.

"Fine." Artemis shot another 5 arrows, this time in the air. He jumped into the air, drew his katana and sliced them up into tiny shards. He they whacked them towards Riku causing him to be pinned to the ground.

"No one calls me a girl." Artemis had claimed victory as Riku could respond.

"Riku are you ok?" asked Sora. Riku pulled his right arm out of the wooden hold and pulled the arrow out of his arm. He yelped in pain but managed to keep his composure.

"Out in the first round. I can't believe it," Riku complained. "Sora. You kick his ass, ok?"

"Will do Riku," said Sora. "In fact I'm about to compete in my first match. Why don't you do some exploring and find anything unusual."

"Will do," Riku smiled.

"Hang on you can't go around with that wound," said Kairi. She raised her Springs Despair and cast cure on him. The wound healed up like brand new. "There you go."

"Thanks. I think I'll go and search that chapel," said Riku. "During that hour we waited for the tournament, I've only seen on guy go in and out of there. Suspicious?"

"Go for it. We have a competition to win," Sora said.

"Yeah and maybe you can find that person who was on top of that spire before," suggested Kairi.

"If there was someone," Riku said. "I'm off." He walked over towards the large, wooden door that cover the chapel's entrance and pushed them open. Sora stepped into the arena where his competitor stood. He drew his keyblade and attacked.

Meanwhile, Riku had started to climb a set of stairs in the left tower. BING BONG. The bells above him started to ring. The sound erupted though his body like he was hit in the spine. He looked up and saw a figure pulling the ropes up and down causing the large bells to ring. It looked a bit disfigured but still human. Just as he was about to progress, he heard a creaking from the wooden stairs above. Riku dove behind some nearby rope piles and hid. A tall man in a large black robe strode past him. The arms were blue at the ends and he had red a blue stripy shoulder pads. Upon his head, he wore a large blue and black hat with a red cloth coming from the top. He then called back up to the man with the bells.

"Stay here Quasimodo. You don't want the locales to find you." He then spoke to himself. "Oh the horror that would befall me if such a creature was found. The name Claude Frollo would become one associated with the devil." He then continued his decent seeming to have unnoticed Riku. Once the man was out of sight, Riku stepped out of his hiding place and walked up the stairs to find this Quasimodo. As he reached the top, Riku could only make out the figure of a man sitting on the edge of the building looking down into the market below. He had stopped ringing the bells and just decided to leave them to die down. Riku walked over to the man and started to speak.

"Quasimodo?" Riku started. The man looked up and looked behind him.

"Who's there?"

"Umm I'm Riku. Are you not Quasimodo? That man before mentioned you."

"You mean Claude Frollo," continued the man. "Yes, I'm Quasimodo. I urge you not to come any closer."

"Why would I do that?" Riku walked forwards but was immediately halted.

"Stop! One look at me and you'll just condemn me." The man turned back towards the marketplace and dropped his head. Riku silently walked closer to him. He got close enough to see him in the light. He wore a green shirt and brown trousers. His most distinguishing feature however was the large hunchback. Riku placed his hand on Quasimodo's shoulder.

"You don't have to hide away. I won't judge you." Reluctantly, Quasimodo turned around. The first thing Riku focused on was the large mound above his left eye. He had dirty, red hair which was scruffy and everywhere. He had an unusually large nose and buck teeth. Apart from these details, Riku could still tell he was human enough.

"You didn't run away?" Quasimodo exclaimed. "Claude always tells me I'm a monster and shouldn't have existed."

"He tells you that?" Riku said, shocked by this. "How dare he tell you you're a monster?"

"Well there's nothing I can do," sighed Quasimodo. "If I leave the chapel, well, let's just say it's not a happy ending."

"Well I think this is unfair," said Riku. "I'm going to find this Claude Frollo and make him set you free." Riku started to walk towards the stairs when he heard bells ringing. Riku looked round towards Quasimodo who hadn't moved. Riku looked up and saw that the large bells weren't moving. Riku saw a flash of gold and he drew his Way to the Dawn. He swiped at the golden object which then fell backwards. It was a heartless. It was a golden bell with bat-like wings and had the heartless emblem imprinted on its stomach. It started to shake causing a ringing to happen. Before he knew it, more Gold Ringers appeared. They all then rang and even more appeared. Hundreds of Gold Ringers had appeared within a matter of seconds. Riku hacked and slashed at them easily defeating them. The only problem was he couldn't defeat them quickly enough. Thankfully, the thorn tattoos were crawling up his arm left arm. More and more heartless appeared. More and more heartless were defeated. Eventually, the tattoo had grown up to his shoulder. Feeling the power within him, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest. A flash of light and he was engulfed in it. unfortunately during the transformation, a Gold Ringer held its body up and shot a powerful laser at him. The light grew dimmer for a few seconds but ultimately shone so bright, Quasimodo was forced to close his eyes and turn away. Quasimodo turned back after the light had disappeared. Riku had been engulfed in fire. His whole body blazed in the orange light. He was also hovering just above the ground. He swooped forwards and slashed at the enemies. A wave a fire burst forwards and a large number of enemies were destroyed. Riku smiled and zoomed forwards, randomly hacking and slashing. Although fire was going everywhere, none of it ignited the tower. Hundreds of heartless defeated in seconds. They were all gone before Riku felt the power leave him. To his shock however, the flames continued. He was unharmed but he felt no power yet was still on fire.

"Whats happening to me?" Riku asked himself.

"It might have happened when that thing shot at you," suggested Quasimodo.

"Maybe, look I've got to find my friends. They are at the competition and I need their help to figure out what to do."

"No you mustn't," yelled Quasimodo. "People will banish you. Just like they will banish me."

"I guess for now we are just a couple of outcasts," sighed Riku. Quasimodo sat back on the edge while Riku was forced to stay stood due to his levitation.

Back at the arena, Sora and Kairi had managed to win their matches and had both managed to reach the semi-finals. But so had Artemis and he was on a mission to win. Kairi started her semi final match against an oversized man wielding a war hammer. Sora decided to make peace with Artemis before his match against him. Sora found him sat at the edge watching Kairi's match.

"Hi, nice to meet you," said Sora.

"What do you want?" Artemis said coldly. "I have no reason to talk to you. I'm only here to compete in this competition."

"Why? Is there something that's making you fight?"

"Hmph, I was banned from another world that was made specifically for fighting in tournaments. I was however too weak to compete. Too weak to even train there. I therefore travel the stars to find worlds that have their own competitions. This has been happening for years now and I am soon to returning to that world to prove my worth. I just need to get this match over and done with." (Cheering) THUD. "Oh and it seems your friend had just finished hers. See you in the ring." Artemis walked off to get some water before the match. Kairi leapt out of the arena and jumped on Sora giving him a hug.

"I did it Sora, I did it," she yelled. "You'd better win this match. I want to see how much you've improved since school."

"Oh yeah, well we'll see who will win," Sora boasted. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw something glowing bright orange at the top of the chapel. "Huh, is that Riku?" Kairi looked up too and saw the orange thing.

"He must have discovered his powers," said Kairi.

"Ok we'll check up on him later then. For now I've got to beat this guy," said Sora. he jumped into the ring and waited for Artemis to enter. Sora didn't know what to expect of him.

**Thanks again for Ziddy2343 for his OC and world suggestion. I hope I did him justice. I also hope I did the world justice since A) it's a non kingdom hearts world (till Kingdom Hearts 3D) and B) I've never watched Hunchback of Notre Dame. I've been using the information from another site. Anyway, please review.**


	10. Rivalry in the Ring

**Chapter 10. So yeah, enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 10**

**Rivalry in the Ring**

Artemis stepped into the ring pulled out his bow and docked his arrow aiming for Sora's head. The announcer started the match and Artemis launched the arrow and Sora blocked it. Artemis then fired 5 arrows in quick succession. Sora jumped left and threw his Keyblade straight for Artemis who drew his katana to deflect it. Before Sora could summon it back, Artemis fired another arrow straight at Sora and as Sora leapt left again, Artemis learnt and fired to the left and got Sora in the forearm. It only slashed his arm but it still rendered him helpless. Sora summoned his Keyblade but just as he did, Artemis had his katana at Sora's neck.

"Did you really think you stood a chance?"

"I believe I still have." Sora swung around towards Artemis's hand and elbowed him in the back. Sora then stood up and swung at him with the Keyblade. He was knocked down with katana out of his hand. Sora walked over to him Keyblade ready but Artemis had enough time to ready his bow and arrow. He aimed it straight for Sora's heart at point blank. Sora started to back off allowing Artemis to regain himself.

"You've put up a good fight Sora," said Artemis. "I thought you'd be much easier to fight than this. But this is where it ends." Artemis pulled the bow back even further. From a few feet away, Artemis fired. Sora almost immediately tried to deflect it but the arrow went past it and into his shoulder plunging straight through. The arrow flew through and landed on the ground behind Sora. Horror had struck Sora's face, and he collapsed.

"Ha! No one is a match for me," cried Artemis. He was cheering so loudly that he failed to see Sora stand up again who was struggling. Artemis turned around and he froze in shock. "Wha…What just happened?"

"I honestly don't know," said Sora. "Ugh, I've had enough." Sora drew his keyblade and smacked Artemis in the stomach knocking him down.

"Alright, alright I give in," Artemis said. "No competition is worth winning if your enemy has magic shoulders."

"Yeah I guess." Sora walked over to Artemis and helped him up.

"Huh. Why did you help me up?" Artemis asked.

"We're fighters, not enemies," Sora smiled. Artemis smiled too and stepped out of the arena with Sora.

"So you are fighting that girl over there," said Artemis. "Kairi wasn't it?"

"Yeah, she's actually my girlfriend," smiled Sora.

"She what? Your going to fight your girlfriend?"

"Yeah? So?"

"That's a bit messed up man."

"Well how about you worry about that somewhere else. Actually do you mind doing a small favour for me?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

"Well my friend went up into the chapel before but hasn't come back down. We think something may have happened to him."

"Yeah I'll go and do that," Artemis smiled. "Good luck." Artemis ran off towards the chapel and slipped through the wooden door.

"Ok, show time," said Sora as he made his way towards Kairi. She was sat on the side examining her Springs Despair. As Sora sat down, she rested the weapon on her lap and looked Sora in the eye.

"Just because you're my boyfriend, doesn't mean I'm going easy on you," she taunted playfully.

"Pity cause I was going to go easy on you, but if your gonna play like that…" Sora laughed.

"Hey now wait…" Kairi started before she was interrupted.

"Ladies and gentlemen. We are about to start the final match," said the announcer. "Could the competitors please make their way to the arena?"

"Ok here we go," said Sora.

"Ready for the test Sora?" Kairi asked.

"Who said this was a test?" Sora laughed as he stepped into the arena.

"I did when I said I wanted to see if you'd improved," Kairi yelled. "Jeese."

Once Kairi stepped into the arena and readied herself, the match began. Sora made the first move by running straight forwards, not even trying to run at full pace. He swung the Keyblade round. He was shocked when Kairi jumped over the blade and span the weapon straight into his head. Sora was knocked backwards with a bruise on his cheek.

"Damn," Sora complained. He decided not to hold back and attack Kairi like she attacked him. He ran in and took a swing. Kairi jumped back to avoid it but Sora continued to spin and got her in the ribs with the Keyblades hilt. This brought Kairi to the floor in pain. Sora brought the Keyblade up to smash down but Kairi retaliated with a rugby tackle into his stomach. She then brought her weapon behind her and applied a reverse grip. This allowed her to swipe across Sora's stomach causing him to stagger backwards. Sora regained himself and threw the Keyblade. Kairi just avoided it and ran forwards. Sora swung his arm back and then forwards as if stabbing. At the right second, he summoned the Keyblade which then hit Kairi at full pelt into her diaphragm. Having no weapon in Sora's had allowed him to apply speed into the attack therefore making the attack twice as hard. Kairi, winded, collapsed onto the floor and tried to catch her breath. Sora however dropped his weapon in front of her. He then crouched down to her level

"That proves I've improved," he whispered. He stood up and called to the announcer. "I resign. Kairi wins."

"What!" She was in shock. Sora walked off, summoned his Keyblade then sheathed it away into non-being. "Sora you can't do that!" Kairi caught her breath and ran after him.

After a few seconds, Kairi managed to catch up to Sora.

"What the hell was that?" she yelled. "I can't believe you just forfeited."

"I only forfeited because I'd proven to you I had gotten better," he said. "I didn't need to do you more harm. Kairi stopped and Sora continued to walk towards the chapel.

"You did that… for me?" Sora stopped where he was, a few feet from Kairi.

"Yeah sure. Why wouldn't I? I could see you were in pain so I had no reason to continue."

"That's… That's so… (She sighed into a giggle) That's very sweet of you Sora." She walked over to him and embraced him planting a kiss on his lips. Sora could feel the warmth of her on him. They broke apart after a few seconds. And started to stroll hand in hand.

"So where to now?" she asked.

"Well I sent that boy Artemis into the chapel, see if he could find Riku," Sora explained. "I haven't heard from him since the start of the match."

"So we're going into the chapel ourselves? Ok sounds good." Kairi walked up to the door and pushed it open and slipped inside. Sora soon followed looking behind him to make sure no one followed them. He closed the door and looked up at the high ceiling.

"This is going to take a while," said Sora.

"I'm going up this tower. Why don't you go up the other one," said Kairi. She ran off towards the left tower while Sora just laughed and started to make his way to the right tower. He started to make his way up the stairs when he heard a creaking. A couple of flights up, the stairs below him collapsed.

"Bloody hell. Guess there's only one way to go now."

A few minutes had passed and Sora had got half way up the tower when he could hear shouting.

"You want me to do what?" It was Artemis. He must have climbed the right hand tower too. Riku therefore must be in the other tower. "You're crazy I'll get myself killed." Sora rushed up the tower to see Artemis leaning on the edge shouting at the other tower. "I was sent to find you even after you called me a girl. And now you want me to get myself killed."

"Whats wrong Artemis?" Sora said causing Artemis to almost fall off the edge.

"Jeese Sora, now you're trying to kill me," Artemis complained. "Your friend is getting me to use my bow and arrow to send over a rope which he then wants me to shimmy over. He said that the stairs collapsed on this side. Must have been excess weight."

"Umm Artemis, how do you think I got up here." A few seconds had passed when Artemis grew bright red.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," said Artemis. "Well I guess we do have no choice but to do what he says. But I'm no good at long range at this sort of distance."

"Aren't you an archer?"

"Well yeah but even an archer has its flaws. Could you find some really long rope while I prep my bow?"

"Ok sure." Sora ran off around the bells looking for rope while Artemis got his bow out and changed the wire. Sora eventually found some rope behind one of the bells and took it over to Artemis.

"Thanks." Artemis took the rope and tied it to the end of one of his larger arrows. Sora stood at the edge looking over at the other side. He could see Riku who for some reason was on fire yet unharmed. Next to him was a shorter man. He couldn't see who it was but decided to leave it till he got to the end. He then saw Kairi rushing up the other stairs and even heard her scream. She must have seen Riku on fire and panicked. "Done." Artemis said. "Right, here goes." He readied himself at the edge and fired the special arrow. Just like Artemis said, he wasn't too good at long distance and the arrow fell short. He pulled the rope in and tried again. He shot again, this time managing to hit one of the pillars, Kairi caught the arrow as it started to fall down and tied it around the pillar. Sora took the other end and tied it to their pillar. He then pulled the rope up making sure it was taught.

"Ready?" Sora said. Artemis nodded and watched Sora grab the rope and swing his legs around it facing towards Riku. He started to shimmy across stopping every now and then to wipe the sweat off his palms. About 2 meters across, Artemis joined him. He too grabbed the rope and swung his legs up. The rope started to wobble and Sora lost his footing. He heard Kairi yelp from the other side but he knew she would be fine. Sora just hooked his legs back up and continued to shimmy.

"How ya coping Artemis?" Sora asked.

"Ngh, I'll be fine, just keep going," Artemis yelled. Sora nodded and continued to move.

About halfway across Sora spoke again. "Nearly there Artemis."

"Yeah ok," he replied.

"Just keep your eyes open. The heartless aren't gonna let us off easily." Just as if he had summoned them, Gold Ringers appeared around them making a loud clanging. "Me and my big mouth," Sora sighed. He refocused and drew his Keyblade. As Artemis needed both hands for his bow and arrow he was forced to use his Katana. Sora dropped his legs and hung on using his left hand with Keyblade in his right. Artemis swung his body down and swung upside down. A Gold Ringer swooped down towards Sora who then managed to hit it back. 2 Gold Ringers then went after Artemis who only just managed to hold on. Sora then realised the bulk of enemies seemed to be going after Artemis so he sheathed his Keyblade and climbed around Artemis to protect him.

Artemis! Go!" Sora yelled.

"Ok." Artemis and Sora knew very well he wasn't too skilled with his Katana. "I'll get to the other side and use my bow and arrow. Artemis sheathed his Katana, regained himself and started to shimmy across. As Sora attacked the heartless he heard a yell. A Gold Ringer had hit Artemis who had lost his grip and started to fall.

"No!" Sora, thinking quickly, slashed through the rope and started to swing through the air. He heard Kairi scream while Riku just yelled.

"Sora!"

Sora had timed it right and caught Artemis in mid flight. He then swung around and allowed himself to be cushioned by his back. He was severally hurt but managed to keep his grip on the rope and the Keyblade with Artemis under his arm. To make things worse, the heartless started to cast Fire and Artemis had been knocked out due to the impact to the wall. Fortunately, the magic was missing them but it was still damaging the wall heavily. Sora had no choice but to flee. He was too far from the roof below which had lots of gargoyles holding sharp, rock weapons. Sora adjusted Artemis onto his back and started to carry him up. The Gold Ringers then grew closer to them. Fire balls flew at Sora only just missing. They were thankfully close enough to the building so that the others could attack them. Springs Despair was being flung out at them while Riku launched fireballs. Sora almost reached the top when one of the Gold Ringed got through the defences and shot a Fire attack. It hit the rope above them, igniting it. Sora hurried as fast as he could up to the fire and grabbed above it just as the rest fell. He couldn't hold on anymore. Artemis was slipping and he was holding onto a piece of rope with one hand.

"Fine. You win," Sora sighed. Sora let go of the rope and started to fall to his death. Was this the end?

**Ooh cliff hanger. Chapter 11 will hopefully be done soon. Oh and good news, Organization High is now redone as much as needed. You'll find it under the name Re: Organization High. Now I know there aren't changes in chapters 6 onwards and that is because it didn't need changing. The first 5 did because they were in first person and let me tell any beginner fan-fictionists, choose either first or third person and stick with it. Anyway, please review. It would mean a lot to me. Thank you for reading and I'll see you next chapter. **


	11. Hellfire

**Oh no. Will Sora and Artemis meet their end? Find out, now.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 11**

**Hellfire**

Sora let go of the rope and prepared to meet his end. All of a sudden, a large hand grabs onto his own before he could fall.

"Do not worry, friend of Riku," said Quasimodo. Using what strength he had, Quasimodo heaved them both up onto the floor where they collapsed.

"Sora?" Kairi pleaded. She drew her Springs Despair and cast Curaga on all of them. Artemis woke up and Sora leapt up in shock.

"What just happened?" Sora said. "I thought I was going to die."

"Quasimodo helped you," said Kairi. "I guess you owe him big time."

"I'll think about how I can repay you later Quasimodo," smiled Sora. "Where's Riku?"

"I'm here." Sora turned around a yelled in surprise at the burning mass that was Riku.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Artemis said.

"I discovered new powers but was hit by a heartless during transformation," said Riku. "I think that if I manage to get myself hit by another one, I'll change back." He threw his burning weapon at the remaining enemies. "Come on then, if ya think you're hard enough!" The Gold Ringers heard him shout and they started to appear in masses. They all cast Firaga and shot at the same time and all aiming towards Riku.

"Riku what the hell!" Sora shoulder barged him out of the way seemingly un-hurt by the flames. The giant fireballs however hit the wooden floor and it exploded. The fire ignited the ground and spread into fireballs burning the surrounding area.

"Why the hell did you do that Sora!" Riku shouted.

"Run!" Sora yelled. He ran away from the fire closely followed by Kairi, Artemis and Quasimodo. Riku just sighed and ran after them. The Gold Ringers however had other ideas. Just as the gang reached the stairs, the Gold Ringers flew in front of them and barricaded the exit.

"There's no escape!" Kairi yelled.

"Actually there is," said Quasimodo. He ran away from the group running past the bells of Notre Dame. He then jumped over the edge and disappeared from sight.

"Quasimodo?" Sora and the gang ran after him and looked down. they saw that Quasimodo was now sliding down a large drainage system swooping down to the ground. "That's as good an idea as anything." Sora stepped back then ran forwards over the edge. "Geronimo." He landed on the drainage and started to slide down it. Everyone else soon followed. Riku however became injured due to the water on his flaming skin. He jumped off and clung onto stone railings and climbed down to the next level of the tower.

Sora couldn't enjoy the experience too much however. Gold Ringers had followed them and had started to shoot fire balls back at them. Sora summoned his Keyblade and deflected them back. They hit the heartless destroying them. The patterns on Sora's shorts started to increase in size. He eventually reached the end of the drainage system and leapt through the open window where he met with Quasimodo. Artemis soon landed next him and Kairi next to him. Quasimodo led the way towards the exit.

"Were on the first floor," he said. "Just down these stairs and…" BOOM. "What!"

A Gold Ringer smashed the ceiling above them and floated in front of the group. It cast fire and started to spin on the spot. The fire engulfed it and it started to expand. Suddenly it stopped spinning and a wave of fire emitted from its side. It was a large version of the Gold Ringers. Its wings were larger and the heartless emblem was also larger. Either side of the emblem were black wing patterns and emitted a light, golden glow. This was a Maxi-Ringer. It then span once more emitting a wave of fire setting the walls alight.

"Guess we have no choice but to fight," said Artemis.

"Quasimodo, go and hide," said Kairi.

"Yes of course Miss Kairi," Quasimodo said. He ran away and jumped out of the window to the lower floor.

"Ok here we go," said Sora. Sora made the first move by drawing his Keyblade and hit the side of the Maxi-Ringer. It surprisingly and easily flew sideways and hit the flaming wall. Kairi too drew her Springs Despair and hit the other side and it again flew into the wall.

"This is too easy," Kairi questioned. The Maxi-Ringer then regained itself and slammed itself into the floor. A wave of energy hit the three of them, but it seemed to do nothing but give them a cool breeze. "Yeah too easy."

"Let me finish it off then," said Artemis. He drew his Bow and docked an arrow. He fired to straight for the heartless emblem and it embedded itself within its supposedly tough shell. The Maxi-Ringer then fell to the floor and started to disappear.

"Oh come on, no heartless is that weak," Sora complained. The darkness of the disappearing Maxi-Ringer then seeped into the burning walls. The fire then moved through the air onto the carcass of the Maxi-Ringer and started to engulf it. The Maxi-Ringer then rose above them covered in fire. A blast of flames flew from it and burned the walls again.

"Oh I see what it did now," said Kairi. "It waited for the flames to get hot enough so it become stronger. We must have to defeat it at its strongest, aka, when its at its hottest."

"So we just distract it until the flames are too hot to handle?" said Sora.

"Exactly. Whoa look out!" The Maxi-Ringer slammed onto the ground and created yet another wave of air. The fire within it however couldn't be dodged so they got a slight burning. Artemis docked another arrow and shot it into the heartless emblem again. It fell over in pain but quickly regained itself. It then flew higher up and shot a large fireball out of itself hitting the middle of the area. Thankfully, they all dodged but the centre started to burn. Sora ran up to it and took a large swing hitting it into the ground. The Maxi-Ringer fell unconscious again and once again started to disappear.

"Too early Sora!" Kairi yelled.

"Whoops, sorry," Sora smiled. The Maxi-Ringer absorbed the flames again and it burned brighter. Its colour changed to a blue flame and it sprouted 2, small wings of flames at its top. It then started to spin and moved towards the group. The burning at the centre was sucked up into its spinning vortex. Sora and gang were forced to try and run to avoid the small black hole. The Maxi-Ringer then stopped suddenly and the flames blasted from it burning the walls again. Kairi held her weapon up and cast a ball of light at the heartless. It flung into the walls and it fell over again. Sora front flipped and smashed into it once again and it collapsed. Once again it started to disappear.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled.

"Sorry, it's just too weak," complained Sora. The Maxi-Ringer absorbed the flames once again this time burning a bright white. The wings of flame grew to a massive size. Sora wiped sweat off his head and started to pant heavily. "I think this might be its hottest."

"You might be right," Kairi complained.

"Let's finish this," Artemis shouted. Artemis docked one more arrow and fired it at the emblem. Instead of penetrating its shell, it bounced off it and flew at Sora. the arrow went straight for Sora and hit him in the stomach. The arrow passed straight through him and landed on the other side.

"Whoa, it must be clothes doing that," said Sora. "It must allow long range weapons pass straight through me."

"That must explain the tournament incident," said Artemis.

"Now's not the time!" Kairi yelled. While stuck in idle chatter, the Maxi-Ringer shot forward and trapped Kairi underneath it. Kairi started to bake within the white and golden shell while the clapper swung around hitting her. Sora and Artemis couldn't get close enough to deal damage due to the intense heat. Kairi meanwhile tried to land a decent hit on the inside of the Maxi-Ringer but each attack was blocked by the clapper.

"Artemis! Dock an arrow," Sora demanded.

"Sure." Artemis docked another arrow in the bow and pulled back.

"Ok fire in three…two…one...GO!" Artemis fired the arrow straight for the heartless emblem at the exact same time; Sora swung his Keyblade at the arrow increasing its velocity. The arrow pierced the hard shell and the Maxi-Ringer flew up off of Kairi. She stood there for a few seconds in some sort of trance, burn marks all over her, before collapsing with a thud. Sora rushed over to her and lifted her head.

"Kairi! Kairi are you alright?"

"Yeah," she sighed in pain. "Just a little burnt." Sora lifted her up in his arms and turned to the Maxi-Ringer.

"We can't do this," Artemis said. "It's just too damn strong."

"Don't worry. There's always hope," Sora suggested.

"Oh yeah what'll hope do at a time like this." CRASH. The ceiling collapsed from above them and the wood fell to the floor. Riku jumped down still in his burning form.

"Man those Gold Ringers are tough to fight alone," he said.

"Riku?" Sora questioned. His face then contorted into fear. "Riku look out!" Riku turned around and saw the Maxi-Ringer heading towards him. He put his hands out and caught the wings. The hot temperature seemed to unfazed him and he managed to keep it at bay. Riku cast Dark Firaga from his hands straight into the wings. They fizzled away and the Maxi-Ringer collapsed in a heap. This time the actual body burned away into darkness. A giant, pink heart flew out of it and disappeared into the flames. When the heartless disappeared, all of the flames in the tower disappeared and seemed to be undamaged by burning. Riku had also returned to his original form and was also unhurt by the flames. The only person who seemed to be injured was Kairi.

"Hey. Is it over?" Kairi said weakly.

"Yeah Riku came and destroyed it," said Sora. "And he's back to his normal self."

"Oh that's brilliant," smiled Kairi. "Umm what are we gonna do about this mess?" Sora looked down and saw that the floor was covered in broken wood and dust. He looked up the hole that Riku had made and could see at least 7 floors up.

"I guess we can fix this up," said Sora. "I mean we did do this."

"No need to worry about that Mr Sora," said Quasimodo as he walked up the stairs. "You saved my tower. It's the least I could do."

"I guess I can stay and help too," said Artemis. "I mean the next competition doesn't start for a few months so I have time to waste."

"Yeah and good luck in that by the way," said Riku. "Anyway, we'd better be off. We need to heal Kairi properly and it also seems that the beings of creation aren't here."

"Well then I wish you luck in your endeavours," said Artemis. "Come on Quasimodo. I'll get the materials." They both walked off down the stairs and went out of sight.

"You know for some strange reason I think something was here," suggested Sora. "I mean who would attack a place like this. There has to be a reason."

"Well does it matter now," said Kairi. "All that counts now is that this place is safe and we can move on. You can put me down now Sora. My burns aren't too bad now." Sora did as he was told then the three of them walked away from the tower towards the ship. Little did they know, a cloaked figure had watched the whole thing. The cloaked figure then turned around, created a dark portal and disappeared.

**Ooh so who was that figure who was watching them? Well I can't tell you just yet otherwise I might as well stop writing here and now. Thanks again to Ziddy2343 for his Hunchback of Notre Dame suggestion and his OC appearance. If you would like an OC put into the story, please send a world suggestion and then if you are accepted, I will ask if you wish to put forward an OC. Thank you for reading and I'll see you in chapter 12.**


	12. Awake yet Asleep

**I hope people are reading this. I seem to be getting no reviews recently. I hope everyone is alright. Here is chapter 12, just a filler for now while I wait for someone to give a world suggestion. Enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 12**

**Awake yet Asleep**

"Ouch, that hurts," Kairi complained. Her burn wounds were starting to heal up from the last fight thanks to Sora looking after her.

"You were the one who told me to do this Kairi," said Sora. He placed a cloth over a new hi-potion and applied some onto the fabric. "Ok this is probably the worst one. I'm not gonna lie, it'll hurt."

"Ok," Kairi complained. "Could you hold my hand while you apply it?"

"Sure." Sora placed his hand inside Kairi's and allowed her to hold on. "Ok it's going on now." Sora placed the dampened cloth over Kairi's burnt knee and upon placement, Kairi squeezed on Sora's hand to refrain from yelling in pain. Sora winced from Kairi's nails digging into his palm yet he continued to apply the hi-potion.

Soon after, Kairi's wounds had disappeared and she was back on her feet. Sora walked over to Riku who was stood at the control desk. "So where to next Riku?"

"Well I've detected another, new world but the computers can't read what it actually is," Riku replied. "It's going to take a few days, 3 days at the very least. Might I suggest we hone in on our skills. I mean I've not had a decent attempt at my special powers so I need to be ready for whatever I get."

"Hey now you don't need the practice," Sora smiled. "I mean Kairi and I didn't know what to expect. Trust me, you'll be fine." Riku smiled and turned to the controls. He directed the ship the way to the new world and started to fly it. Sora however hit the auto-pilot and looked at Riku. "Might I suggest we get some sleep. We haven't had much recently and we kind of need it."

"Fair enough," said Riku. He walked down the corridor as Kairi walked up it.

"I heard what you said," she said. "I think it's a good idea. We all need a rest some times. Thank you for your help by the way."

"It was your idea to use a hi-potion as a skin applicator," Sora said. "So really you should be thanking yourself."

"Well I thank the both of us then," Kairi laughed. Sora joined in. Kairi then stopped then looked out the window. "Whoa look at that." Sora stopped laughing too and looked outside too. "It looks like some sort of cloud."

"In space?"

"Well you can get toxic gasses in space Sora. Look it shouldn't be too much of a deal. Let's go."

"Ok." They walked back down the corridor and went into their respective rooms. As they did, the cockpit started become shrouded in shadows as they went through the cloud.

"Sora…" Sora woke up in a strange place. He was back in the station of awakening.

"Who's there?" he asked. He tried to draw his keyblade but the light just flashed with no result.

"Your keyblade won't work here," said the voice. "There are stories of your life. Stories that were erased from yours and everyone's memories."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Events happened which you cannot remember. They are there but inaccessible. It is a shame. They were good people."

"Who were good people? What the hell is going on?"

"Calm down. No need to raise your voice. Unfortunately I cannot tell you yet. Knowing too much will overload you and you may not even wake up."

"Oh right," Sora said. "Well why are you here then?"

"I am here because the person from your forgotten past has left you a gift. Unfortunately you cannot access its full powers outside of the station of awakening. For now you can get some basic training here. I will give you your weapons." A small flash of light and two wooden swords appeared in Sora's hands.

"Umm ok? These are wooden swords."

"Yes they are. They have the same strength as any other sword, so do not worry. I will send you a couple of unversed to fight." Blue smoke emitted from the middle of the arena. A couple of Floods came from the smoke and jumped at Sora. He fended them off with the right hand sword. "You must learn to use both weapons equally. Other wise this lesson will be useless." Blue smoke once again appeared and Floods attacked him. Sora thought about his attacks and swiped at the Floods with the left sword. Again they were destroyed easily.

"I didn't do it did I?"

"No. How about if I send more Floods? That way you are forced to use both weapons."

"Yeah sounds good."

"I was going to send them anyway." Blue smoke, once again emitted from the centre of the arena. 20 odd Floods came out at once and jumped at Sora. Without thinking, Sora held up the swords up into a cross shape and swiped diagonally downwards. Everyone of the enemies were destroyed at once. "That was better Sora," said the voice. "You need to work on more techniques to overcome the oncoming force."

"What force?"

"The artificial darkness can do a lot more damage than you think. Thankfully they haven't got enough of it to do long term damage. But it wont take them long to mass produce it. You need to refine your skills quickly." The voice then stopped and the ground shook beneath Sora's feet.

"Whoa what was that!" Sora exclaimed.

"Something on the outside," said the voice. "More like someone. Sora, I'm afraid you cannot get rid of them. While in the station of awakening you cannot wake up until you naturally awaken."

"What? Isn't there anything at all I can do?"

"Hmm… well there is one thing. But it's extremely dangerous if unsuccessful."

"Anything to protect the ship."

"Well I can go into form outside but I am unable to stop them myself. I am merely a ghost while I operate in both the dreamscape and in the real world. You may not be able to wake up while here but you can control me as if I were you."

"Basically what your saying is I can fight through your body. That doesn't sound too dangerous."

"The dangerous part is that your body is still sleeping. If your body wakes up while your inside my form, you will stay in the new form… forever." Sora stood in horror. After a few seconds, he responded.

"I'll do it. It just means I'll have to beat that guy quickly."

"That's the spirit Sora. Now stand in the centre of the arena if you please." Sora did as he was told and a white light surrounded him. He then disappeared leaving the station of awaking motionless.

Back in the ship, the figure that had appeared was typing on the control desk. It seemed as if they were hacking into the system. Behind the figure, a cloaked man appeared in a dark portal.

"You shouldn't be doing that," said the cloaked man. It was Sora's voice but it was much darker, like a mix of the mysterious man's voice and his own. "It's rude to break into someone's property."

"This is none of your business," said the figure. "I need to do this to find the truth."

"You won't find anything on there. It only holds information of the residents of the ship."

"Exactly. My existence involves one of these residents. I must find it." BEEP, BEEP. "Aha, this is it. My other half." Sora looked up at the screen and saw that it showed Kairi and all her details.

"Just who are you?"

"Just a creation. A creation that has been formed from DNA and darkness." The figure reached up for her black hood and began to pull it down. Sora stood back in shock. The person beneath the hood was Kairi, or at least someone who looked like Kairi. "I was forced to take upon this form. I was a small clump of darkness that was then force fed DNA in the form of data. Then I was born into this world. My first act when I was created was to find a man called Xemnas and take him back to my creators world."

"It was you?"

"Yes Sora. I recognise you from the school. You seem to have taken up a darker form since then."

"I didn't choose to take this form either. It was either this or allow you to take over our ship."

"I'm not here to take anything. Neither am I here upon request. This is my doing. They lied to me. I will never forgive them for that."

"Then you don't have to say sorry," said another voice. A dark portal appeared and another cloaked figure appeared. "You just have to be a good girl and come back to us."

"I could never do that Riku," said Kairi clone. "Not after what they did, or what they're doing."

"You're that Riku back in Dwarf Woodlands," said Sora. "You were the one that deceived me and collapsed that cave."

"Riku! How could you do that?" said Kairi clone.

"I needed it to be done. In order to pit Sora against that other Riku so as one of them could be destroyed."

"The other Riku?" Kairi clone wondered. "Oh no, Riku. You don't realise it yet, do you?"

"Realise what?"

"You too are a fake. A creation formed from darkness."

"Oh I know I'm a fake. It wasn't darkness that created me. I found the darkness. It gave me sanctuary. It gave me a reason to live. Now I need you to return. You are important to our master."

"I'll never go back to him!" Kairi clone drew her weapon (a Springs Despair but as a silhouette) and ran at the Riku clone. The Riku clone merely side stepped and karate chopped her neck. She collapsed into his arms and then they both disappeared into a dark portal, Riku clone smiling.

"Wait, stop!" It was too late. Although the person had now gone, Sora couldn't help but feel sorry for the Kairi clone. He was forced to retreat and disappeared into a dark portal, remembering what had just happened.

"Wait whats the rush Sora?" Sora had barged into Riku's room and was trying to pull him out of bed. Kairi was stood at the door, who looked as if she too was dragged out of bed. "Can't it wait?"

"No it can't Kairi. Come on Riku!"

"Ugh this better be important Sora," Riku complained.

Later in the living area, Kairi and Riku were waiting for their explanation while Sora was pacing the room trying to remember exactly what happened. He then stopped and faced them.

"Ok, reason I woke you up was because I was taken to the station of awakening," he started.

"You mean that place where the floor is glass," asked Riku.

"The same," Sora said. "But what happened was the ship meanwhile was invaded by someone. I was able to confront them using a psychological link with the voice and it tuned out that the invader was a clone of Kairi."

"What?" Kairi and Riku both said.

"She was created from darkness and was fed the DNA of Kairi. I'm not sure but I think I know where it got the DNA."

"Hmm, I don't think I remember what you mean?" said Kairi.

"It was when you first encountered the heartless Kairi."

"Hmm?"

"In the shower?" Kairi's eyes then shot open.

"Ahh, I know now." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Riku begin to open his mouth. "No don't you dare ask Riku! But still, I can't believe I have a clone, and she works for those guys."

"But that's the weird part. She was the one who took Xemnas from the school but she says that after that was done, she found out she wasn't real and was then she felt like a prisoner in their base."

"It was faked. It had to be," Riku said.

"That's what I thought, but then your clone from Dwarf Woodlands appeared and took her away."

"Oh right," Riku said. "But wait how did she get onto the ship in the first place? I put a shield around the ship every time we sleep."

"That… That's a good point," Sora moped. "I don't know."

"Wait what if it was that gas we saw yesterday Sora," Kairi said. "You know that dark gas that you complained about."

"Maybe. Ow my head is hurting," Sora complained. Riku stood up and walked over to the control desk.

"Oh hey look at this," he said. "That new world has been identified. It goes by the name Valley of the Ant's."

"Valley of the Ant's? Sounds interesting," said Sora.

"Well we'll arrive there soon. Off to the new world."

**Yeah this is kind of a filler chapter. It brings in a lot of things that were unexplained, even from Organization High. Oh by the way, if you don't remember what Sora is on about from where the bad guys got the DNA, it was from the bra that the Heartless stole. Anyway I'll see you next chapter.**


	13. The Flik Machine

**It's been a while since I updated. I've had a lot of work to catch up on so it's been hard to even start writing. I have a vague idea of how this set of chapters will go. And this is a first. I don't think I've seen many people who have done this world before. It was the Second Disney film made by Pixar Animation studios so therefore; I do not own Disney, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Pixar. This Fan fiction is merely for entertainment purposes.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 13**

**The Flik Machine**

**Welcome to The Valley of the Ants**

As Riku approached the planet he noticed something odd. The world at first looked about the same size as any other world. It had a large tree at one side and what looked like rubbish on the other side. Either side was separated by a canyon. As the ship approached the world, the world seemed to grow more rapidly than if it were approaching the world.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"It seems at if the world has an ability to grow in size," said Riku. But then he thought about it. "Unless we've shrunk. That would explain why it is called Valley of the Ants. This is a world of ants."

"Ants?" Kairi complained. "Ugh I hate those little things. They keep infesting my home for food."

"Well we'll be their size now," said Riku. I'm sure we'll have a better understanding of them. Plus we also need to search for those beings of creation."

"Yeah of course," said Sora. The ship landed and the door opened, but as it did, a rush of wind swept over them. When it stopped, Sora opened his eyes and looked at everyone else. "Argh. What happened to you two?"

"Wha…, I don't want to be an ant," Kairi moped. Kairi had sprouted a set of white antenna upon her head. Her white and pink dress had also grown around her creating a Thorax around her torso.

"I think you should look at yourself Sora," said Riku. Sora had gone under the same transformation except in black. Riku too except in grey. "Maybe it's a mechanism of the world to avoid people looking out of place. Although it doesn't seem to have done too good a job. We still look humans just dressed up like ants."

"Yes well let's just search the world and find the beings of creation," Sora said. He turned back towards the door but stopped instantly. A blue ant had stopped itself in front of the ship staring straight into Sora's eyes. Sora stared back.

"Uhh, Sora," Kairi asked.

"INTRUDER!" yelled the ant. "INTRUDER, INTRUDER, INTRUDER!"

"No wait." Sora ran after it drawing his Keyblade. He threw it straight for the ant and pinned it to the ground. Sora stood over it while it grovelled.

"Don't…hurt…me," it cried.

"Why would we hurt you?" Sora asked.

"Your not…going to hurt me?" it questioned. "Oh thank you intruder."

"Uhh my name is Sora not intruder," Sora explained as he pulled his Keyblade out of the ground and helped the ant up.

"Ok Sora. I'm called Mr Soil," said the Ant. "I'm an actor from the local ant colony. But most of the time I'm helping the colony by looking over the collection."

"So what were you doing out here?"

"Oh I was asked to do some recon about a strange thing flying into the area. Turns out it was you."

"Oh sorry about that. Umm is there any way we can help you?"

"Wait what?" Kairi had caught up to Sora closely followed by Riku. "Your not dragging us into anything are you?"

"Well we did disturb them. It's the least we could do," said Sora.

"We have been running a bit slowly in our collection for this year," said Mr Soil. "We need to reach the quota by today or he won't spare us."

"Who won't spare you?" Riku asked.

"It's nothing. You'll find out today anyway. So would you be willing to help us?"

"Yeah sure just show us what to do."

Soon after, the three of them were quickly helping with collection much quicker than any other ant there. Sora still couldn't believe how many ants there were. Thousands, probably hundreds of thousands. Sora carried 3 seeds with him towards the collection area. Unfortunately there was a problem. A leaf started to descend upon him. He stopped while the leaf then settled in front of him.

"Wha… What do I do? Help me!"

"Take it easy Sora," said Mr Soil.

"But the line. It's disappeared."

"Ok let me help you find it again. Just look at me Sora."

"Ok."

"Keep looking at me and follow me. Don't look anywhere else but at me." Sora glanced at the leaf. "Sora look at me. I can help. And there we are." Mr Soil led him back towards the other ants. "See that wasn't difficult was it?"

"No it wasn't. Thank you."

"No problem."

Riku was also helping with collection but was laughing at Sora's incompetence with the leaf. Kairi however was given the job of looking out for the collection to make sure everyone was working. She did see one particular ant not following orders and was trying to follow a purple ant.

"I'm telling you Atta, this is the future of collection," said the blue ant.

"I don't care Flik. My mother demands things to be done her way," said the purple ant who was called Atta.

"But look I'll show you." The ant named Flik ran over to one of the grass stalks and used what looked like a backpack to cut it down. "It cuts down the stalks and takes off the seeds."

"Well I can see that it works but none of your other inventions have ever worked and this one is bound to follow suit."

"What about this then." Flik then pulls a cone shaped object from the backpack and looks down it. "The water in the end allows far away things to be seen closer up. This one does work."

"Well could you just put the machine down and come and help the rest of us," demanded Atta. "You'll only cause trouble for us all." Flik stood quiet for a second before reluctantly agreeing. He placed the machine down and started to copy the other ants. However something odd happened with the machine. The backpack was swallowed by a dark mist before thorns of white erupted from it.

"What…?" Flik said.

"The Nobodies!" yelled Kairi. "Sora! Riku! The machines being possessed." Sora and Riku looked up and saw the machine being mutated into some sort of cutting monster. They dropped their seeds and drew their weapons. The machine seemed to have grown into a large, bandy legged creature with bladed arms and large flat feet. It stopped mutating and it lashed at Sora with a long, bladed arm. Sora just managed to dodge it lashed back breaking the straw that was used to make it. A few seconds later and Nobody thorns wrapped itself around the break and fused it back together with a thorn bandage. Kairi ran over and drew her Springs Despair. The weapon collided with one of its legs and it collapsed. Again the white thorns wrapped around the break and healed it leaving a white bandage.

"Is this thing invincible?" said Kairi.

"I'll prove that it isn't," yelled Riku who then ran forwards. He slashed down at the second straw leg causing it to step backwards to dodge. At the same time a bladed arm swung downwards. Riku dodged it by running at the same leg and swinging straight through it. The straw broke in half causing the machine to collapse. Once again, thorn bandages wrapped around the injuries pulling them together again and leaving the machine as good as new. "What! How could it repair itself like that?"

"Maybe it is repaired but like a broken bone it's weaker when healing," suggested Sora. "I say we attack again at the same places."

"Sounds good to me," said Kairi who ran again towards the first leg she had broken. Riku ran the other. Sora however was protecting them both by blocking the bladed arms. Kairi got a good hit and she broke the injury again. The straw splintered through the bandage ripping it apart. The Nobody thorns tried to wrap themselves around the wound again but couldn't due to the first set of bandages. "Alright it worked."

"Don't get over excited Kairi," said Riku.

"What?" Kairi questioned. Riku broke the second leg again in the same place rendering it un-healable.

"We have to help Sora," said Riku. "He can't fend off 2 arms at once."

"Right," Kairi said who then looked round at Sora. He was being pushed into the ground by the blades while trying to block them. In one quick move he swung away and caused the arms to dig into the ground. Sora broke the injured arm and run up the second one.

"We'll help," said Kairi and Riku. They jumped up and swung backwards. When they were level with the torso of the machine, Sora leapt towards them and they all swung at it. The other arm broke this time but the rest of the machine flew off towards the harvest the ant colony had been collecting. It flew into the supports causing the base to collapse and sending all the food off the edge. The food however went backwards and into the cavern behind it. The machine had been destroyed but at a cost. All of the ants hard work had been lost within seconds. Not only that but the sun had started to set and Mr Soil yelled.

"They're here, the grasshoppers are here."

"The grasshoppers?" Sora wondered. The air was then filled with a buzzing sound and the sky became darker quickly. Above the colony flew hundreds of Grasshoppers who then landed in front of the collapsed harvest. The largest one then stood forwards, anger written all over his face.

"What did we say would happen if we didn't get our harvest collected?" he said looking round at the scared ants looking for an answer. "No? We said if we didn't get our harvest, we would crush your colony, including your queen. Now im pretty sure you didn't want that to happen."

"Of course we didn't Hopper." The purple ant named Atta stood forwards. "We had the harvest collected for you but we ran into a technical issue a few minutes ago."

"And that would be…?" beckoned the grasshopper named Hopper.

"Something flew into the rock supports sending the food into the cavern behind us," said Atta. "It was more of a monster than anything."

"Well I guess we can let it slide." Atta sighed. "For now! We want double the food by the time the last leaf falls from the oak tree."

"But that's half the time," said Atta. "That's impossible!"

"Well it's certainly possible for me to crush your mother, the queen," smiled Hopper. "Now that you have a motive, we're off. I suggest you starting working pronto." He then turned towards the rest of the grasshoppers. "Ok move out you numbskulls!" He flew up into the air followed by the rest of the grasshoppers. Atta had begun to cry. She then turned around towards the blue ant called Flik.

"See what your machine has done now Flik!" she yelled. "Because of your machine, my mother will be killed."

"Wait a second," Flik started. "It wasn't me who toppled it. It was the newcomers."

"Wait hold on a second," said Sora. "We didn't intend to destroy the harvest. We were trying to protect it."

"Well we don't need your help," Atta said coldly. "You're all banished from the colony. Just go away." Atta then walked away into the grass.

"I think we'd better leave," said Riku. "We don't have any reason to stay here."

"Yeah I guess," said Kairi. "But what should be do?"

**Yeah I know kinda lame. I'm sorry to any fans of "A Bugs Life." I've not watched it in years so I've forgotten vaguely how the story goes but the basic plot line is the same. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm waiting for your reviews.**


	14. Circus Bugs

**Chapter 14 and so yes thank you for reading. Oh and I'm still waiting for your world suggestions. Only rules are that it must not have been used yet by me and it must be Disney.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 14**

**Circus Bugs**

A few days had past since Flik, Sora, Kairi and Riku were banished from Fliks old colony. For the time being, they were wondering what they should do.

"So what now?" said Sora. "We can't exactly leave you in this mess."

"Oh don't worry about it," said Flik. "It could have been worse. And anyway I've planned for this kind of situation." Flik pulled a leaf out of his backpack and unrolled it. On it was written plans. Plans to get rid of the grasshoppers.

"You plan to fight against Hoppers gang?" Riku exclaimed. "Did you see how big they were? There's no way we could fight them."

"That's why we won't fight them," Flik said. "My plan is to go to the city to find fighting bugs to attack the grasshoppers. We can't live under the control of the grasshoppers forever so I plan to drive them away."

"Well it seems logical but how are you supposed to get fighters to listen to you?" asked Sora. "I mean most large bugs won't listen to an ant I presume."

"True but I have to try don't I," Flik said. He ran up ahead and climbed up the stalk of a dandelion and pulled off a seed. He then floated down to Sora and the gang. "Grab one of these from there. It's the only way to get over the crevasse and onto the city."

"Ok," said Sora. He too climbed the stalk and pulled off a seed. As he floated down, Kairi followed suit as did Riku. Flik walked over to the crevasse edge with his seed and waited for the wind to blow. Once the wind caught some of the feathery leaves, Flik jumped and the seed lifted him into the air. Sora and the gang copied him and soon after, the 4 of them had reached the other side.

Meanwhile back in the ant colony, Atta had gone back into the anthill and sat in her bedchambers. She sat on one of her seats and looked out of one of the holes in the wall. She sighed and gazed outside in wonder. She thought if it was a bad idea to banish Flik. She then heard a noise and turned around to see a figure in a black coat. "Huh, who are you."

Flik had now reached the city which looked more like rubbish than anything. Bugs were flying around everywhere while even more bugs were running in and out of tin cans and boxes.

"So this is the city you mentioned," said Kairi. "Seems lively."

"Well bugs all over the area come here to do their work and try and make money," said Flik. "Most bugs are street acts though. To be honest it's quite pathetic."

"Do you need to insult them?" Kairi stated.

"No your right," Flik laughed. "We'd better find the local bars. There's bound to be someone there."

"Alright let's go!" Sora shouted and he ran towards the centre of the city.

"Alright I give up." In a bar close to the outskirts of the city in a tin can, a group of bugs had collected together discussing their recent activities. "There's no way I could pull off that stunt," said the ladybird.

"Francis, it's not your fault," said the black widow spider that was stood behind the group. "You slipped on the goo from the previous stunt."

"It's not my fault Rosie," said the giant caterpillar that was sat in the corner. "I didn't mean to get it everywhere."

"We aren't blaming you Heimlich," said Rosie the spider. "Look, the only problem I can see is P.T. Flea's burns from his own stunt."

"Hey a flea's gotta do crazy things to make some quick cash," said a flea.

"Yes but that craziness could get you killed one day," said a praying mantis.

"Yes I concur. We don't want a charred manager," sighed a large moth.

The flea then bounded onto the bar. "I thank for your concern Manny and Gypsy. Our next destination however is due south. We gotta leave now to keep up with the competition. You ready over there Dim and Slim?"

"We're all set with the equipment," said the stick insect that was addressed as Slim.

"And I'm all connected up to the cart," said Dim the rhinoceros beetle. Two woodlouse then jumped on top of him and then on top of each other.

"Oi Tuck, Roll, get your selves back inside," yelled P.T. Flea. "Everyone hop to it." Francis, in anger, downed his drink then got onto the cart just as everyone else adjusted themselves into place. P.T. Flea jumped on top and cracked his whip. Dim then reared up and started to run forwards pulling the cart behind him

Flik, Sora, Riku and Kairi had searched the various pubs and bars with no luck. They had now resorted to searching the outskirts looking for strong bugs there.

"There has to be someone who is willing to help us," said Flik.

"Aww cheer up Flik," said Riku. "Not everyone has the time to help out someone else."

"Yeah I guess. Still, I was sure someone would help," Flik sighed. "Huh?" Flik looked up, his antenna twitching.

"Huh, do you hear something?" Kairi asked.

"Rattling. I can hear rattling coming from behind us," Flik said confusingly.

"Come on, we gotta get ahead of the fight!" yelled a voice.

"Fight?" Flik questioned. He turned around and saw a dust cloud heading towards them. Flik looked up in fear and started to run away.

"Huh, where are you going?" asked Sora. He looked behind too but the dust cloud was gaining on them at full speed. "Stampede!" Riku and Kairi turned around but they were too late to run away.

"Whoa, look out!" said Dim the beetle. He swerved to the side and started to roll. The cart he was pulling rolled with him throwing P.T. Flea off the top and into Sora. The cart skidded to a halt and almost took out Kairi and Riku. Sora however has flat on his back with P.T. Flea on his chest.

"Whoa you alright kid?" said the flea as he jumped back onto the ground.

"Uh, yeah I... I'm fine," said a shook up Sora. He calmed himself down and helped himself up. "So uhh, what is this?"

"Well it's…" the flea started when Dim yelled out to them.

"Look out!" he yelled facing towards the darkness. White portals appeared and multiple Dusks stepped out of them along with a few Gamblers and a Sorcerer.

"Looks like we have some work to do," said Sora as he drew his Keyblade.

"Ok no problem," Riku smiled while he drew his Way to the Dawn. "I could do with the practice to test out my fire ability."

"Hey I need to boost my ice form gauge," said Kairi who summoned her Springs Despair. "I'm not letting you get ahead of me." She ran forwards towards a Dusk and started to swing downwards. She was however blocked by a wall of light that was summoned by the Sorcerer. She leapt backwards and rethought he strategy.

"Hey do ya mind if we help?" said P.T. Flea. Sora looked behind him and he saw a large group of bugs stood behind the flea that spoke. "We can't let our cart be taken by these creatures."

"No not at all," said Sora.

"Alright gang. Let's go!" P.T. Flea took out two matchstick heads and struck them on the ground. They set ablaze to make it seemed like his hands were no on fire. Manny the praying mantis picked up Tuck and Roll, whom had rolled up, and held them like balls of energy. Gypsy lifted up Rosie into the air who aimed her abdomen downwards. Francis the ladybird held up Slim like a sword and pointed him forwards. Dim lowered his head as if ready to charge and Heimlich was stuck at the back readying things to throw.

Francis ran forwards with Slim and swung him around. As Slim screamed, a few Dusks disappeared into darkness. P.T. Flea leapt up into the air and spiralled downwards creating a fire spin. He dove straight into Gambler causing its cards to set alight. In pain, it juggled its small fire balls into the air which then landed onto a few Dusks which caused them to burn and disappear. Gypsy carried Rosie high into the air while Rosie shot silk down to the ground covering a couple a Gamblers keeping them still. Riku took advantage of this and he sliced most of them. This then allowed him to use his special power. At the same time, Heimlich was throwing multiple objects at the Sorcerer. The objects didn't hurt it but they still distracted it enough to stop it using its magic cube ability. Dim was helping him by running through the various Dusks that were trying to hit him. Manny was throwing Tuck and Roll at the burning Gambler. They hit it as a ball but then grabbed into it to claw into it. The burning eventually got too much for it and it disappeared into the darkness. Riku then decided to use his fire ability. He held his Way to the Dawn forwards and caused the black tattoos to seep into the blade. Once the blade had been covered in dark thorns, they burst into flames and engulfed the blade in its inferno. They formed around the weapon making it look larger than it actually was. Riku ran forwards with the fiery weapon towards the Sorcerer which was creating multiple barriers. Riku however was just slashing straight through them and continued to run. Fire and magic swirled past him as he ran towards the enemy. Time seemed to slow down for Riku making the whole effect amazing to him. As shards of magic flew past his eyes, he quickly switched to a reverse grip and ran straight through the Sorcerer. On the other side, Riku lost his Fire ability and he stood up straight. The Sorcerer then exploded into a ball of darkness and fire and it disappeared with the rest of the Nobodies.

"Amazing!" Flik got out of his hiding place. "You guys really are strong."

"Well I wouldn't really say that," said Slim rubbing his head.

"Who are you guys?" Sora asked.

"Allow me to explain," said P.T Flea leaping into view. "I am P.T. Flea, the leader of my group. These are Francis, Slim, Rosie, Manny, Gypsy, Heimlich, Dim, Tuck and Roll." As he told them he gestured towards each one in turn.

"Well, I'm Sora," Sora smiled. "These are my friends Kairi, Riku and Flik. We are on a journey to find strong warriors to help Flik fight off someone."

"Oh right well…" P.T. Flea started.

"You were amazing out there," Flik said in awe. "Do you mind coming with us to help us fight off a grasshopper named Hopper?"

"Umm do we have to?" complained Heimlich.

"Are there a lot of you that need protecting?" P.T. Flea asked.

"Yes. In fact there are thousands of us," Flik said.

"Well count us in," the flea smiled.

"But sir…" started Rosie.

"Hey." P.T. Flea jumped up and whispered into Rosie's ear. "If there are lots of bugs in one place, we can put on a show that will guarantee us a lifetime of swimming in money."

"Great well we can lead the way," said Flik.

"Yeah no problem," the fleas said. They all started packing up the stuff and righted the cart once more. As they started to leave, Kairi whispered to Riku.

"They aren't who Sora and Flik think. Are they?" she whispered.

"No." Riku responded. "Well we might as well just leave this world and let them sort themselves out." He then started to walk away.

"What? We can't just leave them in this mess. It was us who got them into this mess."

"Exactly. I've been thinking recently whether it was a good idea to do this sort of thing or not. You know, getting involved in the affairs of other worlds."

"You actually make a good point. But we've managed to help every world we've gone to."

"Neverland is currently frozen in artificial darkness." Riku said.

"That wasn't us. Pronex did that. And THAT is why we're going to other worlds. Now come on. The others are waiting for us." Kairi ran off leaving Riku on his own.

"We still shouldn't be doing this. I'm sure their lives would have worked out in the end without us messing it up."

**Yay chapter 14 is done. Just to remind you, I'm still doing my world suggestion idea. If I choose the world you suggested, you will have the opportunity to have one your OC's in that world. Thank you for reading and please review.**


	15. Ants Fight Back

**Chapter 15 and the end of the valley of the ants. Umm I hope I didn't mess up the story line too much. I did say I haven't watched it in years. But for now, enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 15**

**Ants Fight Back**

"Hey!" Flik walked into the open area where his old colony stood in awe. "Did you miss me?"

"Hey isn't that Flik?"

"Wasn't he banished?"

"What's he doing back?"

"I have been on a mission to find bug's to help us fight off the grasshoppers," Flik continued. "And here they are." He gestured to the group of bug's that stood behind him.

"Flik, what are you doing here!" yelled a surprised Atta. "You were banished for destroying our last harvest and threatening the lives of many. You have some nerve returning."

"I am here to help fight off Hopper and his gang," said Flik. "We can't live forever under constant fear."

"Still. We have managed to reach the original quota. If you mess this up for us, my mother will die," Atta complained.

"Well I say we fight back," Flik said.

"And fight you shall."

"Mawlix!" Sora yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to settle a score with you," said Mawlix. "You have taken on the task of someone else. We gave you your life back yet you refuse to return to it. We cannot allow this, not after you destroyed our home world as well."

"We had the chance to fight back so we took that chance," said Sora.

"Well how about I make this your final one." Mawlix shot his arms to the side and swirling dark thorns passed around his arm. They then moved along his arms and past the hands. What had appeared underneath it was what looked like a metal plate that had wrapped around the arms. The hand had been enclosed in a solid metal dome on top of which were 2 blades fused. "This is one my personal favourites from the Attack-Defence section of my armoury. I call it the Kentuko [1]. Face your fate, Sora."

Mawlix ran forwards, left Kentuko in front of the right. Sora drew his Keyblade and ran forwards too. Mawlix then leapt into the air and swung down with the right. Sora rolled to the left but was then nearly slashed by the left Kentuko. After dodging the last attack, Sora went on the attack and jabbed forwards at Mawlixs stomach. Mawlix jumped up and trapped Sora's head in between the metal plates and threw him into the ground. Sora managed to stand back up but was knocked back down my Mawlix.

"So pathetic," he said. "I thought you were supposed to be the big hero."

"Shut it!" Sora yelled. He quickly stood back up staggering but then went to attack. Sora slashed down on Mawlix but he blocked the attack with his left Kentuko. Sora bounced off the attack leaving him wide open. Mawlix then stabbed forwards but only slashed Sora's side. Sora staggered back in pain while clutching his side.

"Do you concede defeat Sora?" said Mawlix.

"Like hell I will," Sora snapped still clutching his side.

"Sora!" Kairi drew Springs Despair and cast Curaga on him sealing up his injury but it still left him weak.

"Hmm, you may be getting help but it still won't defeat me," Mawlix smiled. Mawlix backhanded Sora with the right Kentuko and it threw him backwards into Kairi and Riku. "Ha! You're like a little ragdoll being thrown around. But enough of this." Mawlix ran forwards about to deal the final blow.

"You fell for it," smiled Sora.

"Huh," said a confused Mawlix. Sora got back up using his Keyblade but ran forwards now holding Kairi's Springs Despair. Sora ran forwards and rolled under the Kentuko and crossed slashed into Mawlixs abdomen sending him backwards.

"By going for a killing attack, you were left wide open and forgot about your other weapon," Sora explained. "And you're not the only one allowed to dual wield." Sora ran forwards and slashed down again. Mawlix blocked the attack with the left Kentuko causing Sora to bounce off it but he then swung down with the Springs Despair in the same spot. That then bounced of and Sora swung down with the Keyblade again in the same spot. He kept the onslaught up until the left Kentuko became dented and worn out. A few attack later and it started to crack. Sora jumped backwards and threw the Keyblade. Mawlix blocked the attack once again with the left Kentuko but the metal plate then shattered upon impact. The bladed end then fell to the ground leaving Mawlix with only one left.

"I guess I win this time Mawlix," Sora laughed.

"It's not over!" yelled Mawlix. He turned around and aimed the Kentuko and the old oak tree and shot multiple Firaga attacks. They hit the leaves causing them to burn and fall to the ground. Every single one ended up as a pile off ashes. As the last one fell, the skies filled with buzzing and on the horizon, a large dark cloud appeared. Upon closer inspection, Sora could see that the black cloud were hundreds of grasshoppers all flying towards the open area.

"Wait the deadline was when the last leaf fell from the tree!" yelled Flik. "You just burnt them away!"

"It's allowed." Flik turned around and saw Atta.

"What?"

"It's allowed Flik. They technically fell, so therefore it's allowed," she said.

"Riku, her eyes," said Kairi. "Her eyes look dead."

"You don't think Mawlix hypnotised her?" Riku wondered.

THUD. The sound of hundreds of feet had landed on the open ground. "Time's up and I see you haven't got my food," said Hopper. "This is unacceptable!" he zoomed forwards and grabbed Atta at the neck and held her up. She however showed no sign of resistance.

"Let her go Hopper!" Flik demanded. "Kill me instead."

"How about I kill you both," Hopped snarled.

"How about neither," said Sora who stepped in front of Flik holding his Keyblade forwards.

"Oh you want to fight do you?" Hopped smiled turning towards his group. "Hey guys, the kid wants to fight." The grasshoppers then burst into laughter.

"You shouldn't judge us by our looks," said Flik. "We even have a group to fight you, right guys? Uhh… guys?" P.T. Flea and the group has all disappeared leaving wheel tracks behind them. "I'm now starting to think they aren't real fighter." Flik sighed.

"Hah, how pathetic," Hopper snarled.

"Say how about we have a little wager," said Mawlix. "If you win against these three brats, you become king of this land forever having your slave army at your knees."

"What if we win?" said Sora.

"We'll take the food you've already got and we leave to invade another ant colony," said Hopper.

"That's still not a good deal," said Kairi.

"But it's better than nothing," said Riku. "I accept the challenge."

"Fine I do too," Kairi said reluctantly.

"I guess we've got a deal," Sora said. As he shook Hoppers hand "3 on one? We've got this one in the bag."

"Oh have you now," said Mawlix. He raised his Kentuko and aimed at Hopper. Black and white thorns shot from the end enclosing Hopper. The thorns grew bigger and bigger causing Hoppers size to increase. The main thorns then disappeared leaving a giant, black and white Hopper.

"Hey that's unfair!" Sora yelled.

"It wasn't part of the agreement," smiled Mawlix. "Well see you." He disappeared into a dark portal leaving Sora and the gang to fight the giant Hopper. [2]

The giant Hopper took one step forwards to try and crush Sora. Riku however pushed him out the way and stuck his Way to the Dawn into the air and into Hoppers foot. He stood backwards clutching his foot in pain and then went to grab Kairi. She however ran into the hand, swung at it and leapt off the palm. Kairi's large white dress then started to glow pink.

"Already?" Kairi said shocked. "Hey guys, it's easy to get boost points from him."

"Ok!" said Riku and Sora. They ran towards the other foot and swung either side of the plated shin. Sora's clothes started to glow white signalling he was ready. Riku however had to take another swing to get his arm to glow black.

"Ok, we're ready," said Sora.

"Let's all attack at once," said Kairi. She ran towards Riku and Sora and held her Springs Despair out again as Sora and Riku held out their weapons. The pink from Kairis dress moved up her and into the weapon giving it a pink glow. The white glow and the white thorns and lightning from Soras clothes moved up his body and fused into the Keyblade. The black glow and black thorns from Rikus arm moved further down it and into the blade. Then all at once they transformed.

Thorns erupted from the handle of the Keyblade surrounding it with sharp thorns. They swirled around it and fused at the tip. Electricity then surged through the blade and thorns making them enchanted with Thunder magic.

Blizzard magic swirled around Kairi's Spring Despair creating a helix of ice around it. Ice then fused around the hand guard then encased Kairis hand with the handle. At the head of the weapon, icicles had grown creating sharp spikes.

Riku's weapon burst into flames and encased the whole blade in fire. The fire then swirled further than the real weapon and created a blade of fire. Fire then swirled around Rikus forearm to create a sort of armour.

Sora ran forwards and leapt into the air and swung at Giga-Hopper. The thorns latched onto the abdomen and electric shocks burst through him rendering him paralyzed. Sora unhooked himself and dove straight down casting Thundaga magic into the giant foot. Kairi followed him up by casting Blizzaga on the ground in front of her. She then started to create a path of ice which she then slid along. Just as she started to slide along, Riku followed her with his Firaga attacks. They both slid along the track, Kairi creating it while Riku melted it, further up the paralyzed Giga-Hopper. At the top, Kairi jumped onto his head and cast Blizzaga on it sealing it in ice. Riku followed up by melting it with his sword drenching the enemy in water. As they both jumped to the ground, Sora once again went to attack with Thundaga. The water conducted the electricity, amplifying the attack and causing massive damage. The time ran out and their weapons reverted to their original forms. The Giga-Hopper then collapsed in a heap exhausted from the onslaught that had happened. The Nobody thorns left him leaving the original Hopper collapsed and in a daze.

"I guess we win this one," said Sora.

"It's not over," demanded Hopper as he regained himself. "It's not over until I say it is over." A dark shadow then cast behind him which led to the other grasshoppers to flee from the scene. "Where the heck are you all going!" Hopper turned around to see what was behind him. Towering above him was a large yellow bird. It grabbed Hopper in its beak and flew up into the oak tree and out of view. Sora could only assume Hopper wouldn't be returning.

"Well looks like we've managed to bring your colony to peace once more," smiled Sora.

"Yes thank you," said Flik. "Now I've just got to convince Atta to let me return."

"Well you don't need to convince me." Flik turned around and saw Atta stood behind him and out of her trance. "You managed to help vanquish the grasshopper threat by bringing these fine warriors." She then turned to Sora. "I'm assuming you can't stay here."

"No we can't," Sora sighed. "We were here to find something and we couldn't find it."

"Well if you ever need any assistance from us, feel free to ask," Atta smiled.

"Well thank you and take care," Sora said beaming. He started to walk away towards the ship followed by Riku and Kairi.

"So it looks like we didn't need to leave," said Kairi. "I think you owe me an apology."

"Fine, fine I'm sorry for threatening to leave," said Riku. "But still, is this right? Why can't we just find the home world of these guys?"

"Cause if we do their job for them, they'll come looking for us," said Kairi. "We'll have the upper-hand."

"The upper-hand eh?" Riku questioned. "Sounds like you have a plan." They eventually reached the ship and Riku walked over to the control desk. "Oh there's a message." Riku pushed a blue button to the side of the control desk and Naomi appeared on screen.

"Hey guys," she started. "Obviously you're aren't here right now so I'll just say this in a message. We've found a lead as to the location of one of the beings of creation. We would like your help in finding it as soon as possible. The co-ordinates of this world will patch through when the message ends. Try and get here as soon as possible." BEEP. As the message finished, a sheet of paper appeared from under the desk with multiple numbers on it.

"Hmm I guess we have our next destination confirmed," said Riku as he typed in the new co-ordinates. "Oh and it seems to be really close by. We should reach it in a few hours."

"Well that's good," said Kairi.

"Oh and I forgot to mention," Riku continued. "You know how we've had to wash ourselves only when we reach a new world. Well while we've been travelling to each destination, I've been at work over in the engine room to create a sort of bath for us to use."

"Brilliant," Sora said.

"Yeah, but the only drawback is that we have to collect water every time we land because when using the engines heat, the water evaporates."

"Well I'm going to use it first," said Kairi. "We can't let Riku's hard work go to waste." She then walked off down the hallway to the engine room.

"You were always good with the handy work Riku," said Sora.

"Obviously," Riku gloated. "Anyway, get yourself prepared for the new world. "We get there in approximately 4 hours."

**[1] Kentuko – Roughly translates to Sword-Shield.**

**[2] Giga-Hopper – Just a very big grasshopper. About half the height of the oak tree.**

**Ok so finally chapter 15 is done. I only added in the bath thing cause I realised that they need to wash every now and then. Chapter 16 will be an original world with thanks to a friend of mine called Diafl. Oh and that reminds me, check out my profile. I've put stuff on there about a new sub story that goes along with a new story Diafl is writing. If you like my stories, you will certainly love this new one. More information will be given ASAP. For now, take care and keep reading.**


	16. White Days

**Chapter 16 and time for an original world, (Well I hope it's original). Anyway, enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 16**

**White Days**

**Welcome to Niji-District**

"Here we are, Niji-District," said Riku as he stepped off the ship followed by Sora. Kairi was still stood at the door drying her hair. Niji- District was a vast land of Victorian style houses and acres of land. The area they had landed on had rows of houses with red painted wood. Behind the houses were many fields filled with red flowers. Down the central and only road, was the centre of the world, a metallic looking factory which seemed to feed power to the world.

"Is it just me or is something a little odd about this area?" asked Sora.

"Niji-District is split up into 7 different areas each with their own designated colour," explained Riku. "It makes it easier to find your way around. We have landed at the end of the Red Zone. Yuffie said she would meet us in the central area, White Works."

"Ok we'd better hurry then," said Sora. "And for god sakes Kairi how long does it take to wash and dry your hair?"

"Too long," she replied busily drying her hair. "And that's how long I need. You as a guy wouldn't understand." She walked back inside and came back out a minute later with the her back as its usual self.

"About time," Sora sarcastically said. For this he just a slap to the back of the head.

"Come on guys," Riku complained. "We won't get anywhere if you two bicker." He walked down the road and drew his Way to the Dawn. "Just as a precaution."

Half way down the straight, mile-long road, Sora started to complain. "Man I wish I had my card vehicles back. This would have been so much easier."

"To be honest we all wished you had them," Kairi moped. "I guess you lost the power to love."

"Have not," Sora complained. He then turned away and started to mumble. "I haven't lost it."

"What was that?" Kairi asked.

"Oh it's nothing," Sora laughed. "Come on. Huh." Sora was blocked by Riku. "what are you…"

"Shh," Riku interrupted. "I hear something." Sora closed his eyes to try and listen for something. Kairi also did the same but they both couldn't hear anything. Riku jolted forwards and slashed at seemingly mid-air. Sora and Kairi were then both shocked to then hear a yelp of pain.

"Oi, Oi easy there," said the voice.

"Who are you?" asked Riku.

"More importantly, where are you?" Sora asked.

"I'm here," said the voice. The 'air' that Riku hit now melted away to show a girl about the same age as Riku. She had very pale skin and wore a yellow cloak over and orange crop top and green shorts. She also wore white trainers which had yellow laces. In her long, blonde hair was a white hair clip which was an unusual, circular shape. The shape had 6 spikes protruding evenly around the edge with a smaller circle at the centre which was split into 12 segments. 3 of the spikes were coloured in yellow, orange and green while the centre had 5 segments coloured in, yellow, orange, green and the 2 colours in between.

"Again, who are you?" asked Riku who proceeded to help her up.

"I'm called Rosemary, Rose for short," she said while looking around. "Look I have to leave. I can't be seen in this area." She pushed onto the hair clip and the air around her melted over her and caused her to disappear. "See you." Although he couldn't see her, Sora could still feel the air as she passed him.

"What do you think that was all about?" Kairi asked. "Also did you see that weird thing on her head?"

"It doesn't matter," said Riku. "Yuffie and the others should be waiting for us at White Works." He continued on to the centre while Sora followed. Kairi stood still a few seconds before she ran after the boys.

Eventually they reached White Works. It was a tall, spiral tower which went about a mile high. Surrounding it were smaller buildings which connected to the main central tower. Unlike the Red Zone, every inch of the factory was pure white. Kairi spotted Yuffie and the group and they made their way to meet them.

"So Naomi we got your message," said Riku. "You said you found one of the Beings of Creation."

"Yes," Naomi replied. "We caught a glimpse of the yellow dragon about a day ago. We also have reports of a blue creature flying around. We messaged you as soon as possible."

"Yes well im sure we'll be able to find them," said Sora. "Oh yeah whats with this colour system that's in this world.

"Oh that was a way to differentiate between the 6 sections," said Chloe. "It was to make it easier for distribution from the White Works factory."

"Unfortunately, the locals assumed it was a way to differentiate between each other," said Marcus. "Ever since the system was set up, each section fights against each other. The Yellow Zone, the Blue Zone and the Red Zone are the worst. They always fight against each other in the three other areas. It might have something to do with the shrines at the ends of the 3 main roads."

"Well isn't there some sort of control between the roads?" asked Kairi.

"No," Marcus replied. "The only way for them to come to realisation is if they find it themselves. In the White Works, the workers all go through a de-colourise machine. That way no one has any idea where everyone is from. Everyone is equal. That is why the White Works don't do anything about this."

"But that's not the point," Zack interrupted. "We are here to find the 2 Beings of Creation."

"Ok might I suggest we split up," said Riku. "If we split up into 3 sections, we can search the 3 roads."

"Ok I'm going with Sora!" yelled Yuffie as she ran over to him and linked with his arm.

"Umm Yuffie could you…" Sora started. Yuffie was however pulled away by an angry Kairi.

"He's my boyfriend Yuffie," she said. "It would make more sense if I went with him."

"Uhh actually if this is going to be a problem, I'll go with Marcus and Zack," Sora said.

"Fine by us," said Chloe. "I'll look after Kairi and Yuffie."

"So it seems as if it's us two Riku," said Naomi.

"Sounds good," Riku replied.

"So how about we meet up here in about 3 hours?" said Marcus. "The sun sets then. Spend some time on the road then move anti-clockwise into the mid-areas."

"Ok well we'll take the Red Zone," said Riku.

"Nice, go for the easy one," laughed Naomi.

"Whatever, lets just go," said Sora as he headed off down the Yellow Zone road with Marcus and Zack. Kairi started to walk down the Blue Zone with Yuffie and Chloe while Riku and Naomi headed down the Red Zone.

Sora, Marcus and Zack had got halfway down the road when Zack collapsed under the weight of his war-hammer. "Ugh I knew I should have chosen a battle-axe," he complained.

"You had crafted that war-hammer yourself you dolt," said Marcus.

"Oh yeah," Zack laughed. "Huh. Look out!" Zack shot back up and held his weapon up. Dark portals appeared in front of them and out shot a couple of Dusks. They shot forwards and knocked Sora off balance. Zack retaliated by smashing the Dusks into the ground.

"Damn I should have been ready," said Sora as he regained himself and drew his Keyblade.

"Well you might have a chance to redeem yourself. Here they come," Marcus warned. He was right. More dark portals opened up and a group of Samurai's and a group of Assassin's appeared backed up by a Dragoon. Marcus didn't leave time to analyse the enemies and just jumped straight into battle. He jumped onto an Assassin and leapt off it towards the Dragoon. The Dragoon used its sword to lash at Marcus, he jumped to avoid it. Instead of attacking, he somehow disappeared and reappeared above the enemy where he then dove down onto it. Marcus then leapt back into the group of lesser Nobodies and started to attack them. He grabbed onto an Assassin and threw it into the ground where it then exploded into Nobody thorns.

"We can't let him get ahead of us Zack," said Sora. He ran forwards and lashed at a couple of Samurai's and launched them into an Assassin. The decorations on Sora's clothes then increased in length. Zack smashed his hammer into the Dragoon but it then retaliated by slashing him away. As he flew backwards, Sora caught his hand and swung him back at the enemy where he then smashed the Dragoon into the ground again. Sora hit another Assassin and his clothes started to glow white signalling he was ready for his special attack.

He withdrew his Keyblade and crossed his arms over his chest and closed his arms. The glowing spread to his hands and feet casting them in light. Thorns then wrapped around his palms and his feet creating a sort of casting around them. They then exploded and electrical pulses shot through them. Thorns also grew out his back creating things that look like wings. Sora felt lighter than usual in this new form of his. He shot forward quicker than the blink of an eye and threw an Assassin into a group of Samurais. They all became electrified and exploded into their usual Nobody thorns. Sora then shot forwards to the Dragoon. He grabbed onto its sword and swung it around. The electrical pulses shot through the enemy rendering it unconscious. Sora continued to swing it around into the enemies until he the threw it over his shoulder and into the ground. All the enemies disappeared into darkness but more enemies appeared, this time 3 Bezerkers. The first one walked forwards and slammed its giant hammer towards Sora. He however dodged out of the way and grabbed onto the hammer. The electrical pulses went through the hammer into the Bezerker. Sora rushed forwards wielding the Bezerker and slammed it into the other two. They all disappeared at once. At the same time, Sora reverted back to original form.

"Whoa that was amazing," said Zack.

"It seems your improving," Marcus commented. "But, you can't rely on those powers all the time."

"I think I'll take that as a compliment," Sora laughed. "Come on. The Yellow Zones shrine is at the end. Then where do we go after that?"

"The Orange Plains," said Marcus. "It's all colour based. Surely you know that."

"I didn't know the 'Plains' part," complained Sora.

"So I'm assuming there is a shrine at the end of this road," asked Kairi.

"Yes the Blue Zone shrine," said Yuffie. "It was where we got the reports for the blue dragon."

"Yeah it was all like flashing and blue in the sky," exclaimed Chloe.

"You didn't even see it did you?" said Kairi.

"No we didn't," Yuffie sighed. At this Chloe complained. She then heard a rustle and quickly drew her Claw weapons.

"Enemies nearby," she said. "Draw your weapons!" Kairi and Yuffie did as they were told and drew their Springs Despair and Shurikens respectively. Chloe was right and a group of Floods shot out of the ground. They were backed up by a massive army of Jellyshades, a group of Mandrakes and a Giant Glee Tea.

Chloe pounced forwards like a cat and landed onto the floating groups of Jellyshades and started clawing at their domes. Yuffie backed up Kairi by fending off Floods while Kairi went for the Mandrakes. Chloe then leapt off a Jellyshade after defeating it and landed on top of the Giant Glee Tea. She tried to break into its dome but it was using shield magic to block the scratches. Kairi had defeated enough Mandrakes to get her dress to start to glow pink. She withdrew her Springs Despair and crossed her arms. The pink glow grew over her arms covering them with a radiant shine. In a flash of light, her arms seemed to transform into ice. On the back of her arms, the ice started to grow into large plates creating frozen shields. Her fingers started to sharpen into claws similar to Chloe's weapon. Kairi slammed her hand into the ground and the ground froze over. The Mandrakes and the Floods all froze over and were covered in glistening, blue ice. Kairi leapt into the air spinning into the large group of Jellyshades. They weren't immediately destroyed but froze over like the ground enemies and then they dropped to the ground. Kairi then landed on top of the Giant Glee Tea and slammed onto the top with her ice shields. They managed to crack through to the centre which Kairi then reached into freezing it from the inside. The enemy froze over and slammed into the ground again. Kairi leapt off the frozen Unversed and shot into the ground creating a shockwave with her ice shields. Every enemy obliterated into a frozen dust and blew off into the wind. Kairi's arms then reverted back into their original form.

"Hmm so that's the magic form you mentioned," said Yuffie. "That's impressive I must admit."

"Well I can't use it too often," Kairi said. "With each use per day, I have to defeat more enemies than the last time."

"Right well let's hope there are lots of enemies at the shrine and even more in the Green Valley," said Yuffie. "C'mon!"

"Ok. Umm Chloe?" Chloe was stuck in place still gazing at Kairi in awe. "Ok let's just leave, she'll catch up."

Meanwhile back in the Red Zone, Riku and Naomi were talking about their previous travels. "Well after Notre Dame, we went to Valley of the Ants," said Riku. "And that's it. We came here afterwards."

"Well it certainly sounds interesting," Naomi replied. "We went to have another look in Dwarf Woodlands after we heard you went there. It seems as if you left it in quite a state."

"Hey now you can't say you didn't ruin a world. What about that Pride Lands place you mentioned? You said you managed to destroy a graveyard of some sort."

"It was an elephant graveyard and those hyenas got what they deserved."

"Well it sounds like you're quite vicious as a lion cub." At this Naomi elbowed Riku in the ribs. They eventually reached the Red Zone shrine and took in the surroundings. It was quite an open area. The Victorian style houses were a few hundreds yards behind them while Rikus ship was out in one of the fields filled with red flowers. At the centre of the open area stood a wooden hut with red ribbons hanging from the roof. In front of the shrine was a small, stone statue that seemed to resemble a large dragon with fire lining its back and arms.

"Huh. You don't think this might be one of the Beings of Creation, could it?" asked Riku.

"Well it looks like it could be, but we can't be certain," Naomi replied. "Well I guess we should go onto the Purple Forest." BOOM. "What was that!" Riku and Naomi turned towards one of the fields of red and saw a large heartless. A Trickmaster had appeared and was backed up by a few Fiery Globes. Naomi drew her iron Whip and ran forwards heading straight for the Trickmaster. She whipped her weapon around one of the arms and swung up onto its back. She reeled it back in and wrapped it around its torso. She then jumped down and pulled the Trickmaster into the ground. The Trickmaster hit Naomi off of it with one of its maracas and then hit one of the Fiery Globes. The Fiery globe ignited the maraca which subsequently ignited its second one. Riku ran in to attack a few Fiery Globes which increased Rikus form gauge. Eventually his arm was covered in black thorn tattoos and it started to glow. Naomi continued to try and pin the Trickmaster into the ground. Riku withdrew his Way to the Dawn and crossed his arms over his torso. The glowing spread from his left arm over to his right arm as well. The glowing also spread down to his shins as well. The glowing then exploded into flames. Riku's arms and hands were ablaze with a red fire while his shins had taken on a blue flame. A line of fire then linked his shins to his arms making it look like chains. Riku ran forwards and punched into the remaining Fiery Globes and continued onto to the Trickmaster. He jumped onto the legs and grabbed onto them then set ablaze which then spread all over the Trickmaster.

"What the hell are you doing Riku!" yelled Naomi. "It's one of those heartless that has increased powers with magic! This one is Fire based!"

"Huh," Riku asked. "Argh!" The Trickmaster hit Riku away with one of its flaming maracas. Riku managed to regain himself without falling and immediately retaliated. He ran forwards and landed on top of the Trickmasters torso. He started to punch away at it but was unable to last long due to the intense heat. The Trickmaster got up and kicked at Riku. He managed to dodge and Riku shot up. He punched the torso once again but there was a problem. The heartless was defeated but due to the fire and the heat, there was an explosion. It threw Riku and Naomi away from the area and into the Purple Forest.

**Hmm this may have been my longest chapter so far. Also Niji translates to Rainbow hence all the colour stuff. I will try and update as soon as possible.**


	17. Violet Night

**Part 2 of Niji-District. Enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 17**

**Violet Nights**

"Hmm seems like there isn't anything here," said Marcus. They had managed to reach the Yellow Zone shrine but after some careful examination, they realised there was nothing there.

"Also it seems like there isn't enough time to search the Orange Plains," sighed Sora as he looked up to see the dusky sky. "Use your radio to let the others know to return to the White Works."

"Ok fine." Marcus pulled out his radio and messaged Yuffie.

"Ok sure Marcus," Yuffie replied. "I'll let Naomi know. Yuffie over and out."

"What's happening Yuffie?" Chloe asked.

"It seems like it's too dark to search the second area," she replied. "Marcus suggested we go back to the White Works and find a place to stay. Let me just message Naomi about it." Yuffie pushed a couple of buttons on the radio and placed it against her ear. "Hello Naomi?" No reply. "Naomi are you there?" Still no reply. "Seems like there is a problem."

"Well how about we go back and search for them?" suggested Kairi.

"It's the best we can do so far," said Chloe. "Let's head back."

Meanwhile in the Purple Forest, Riku had reverted back into his original form and had landed in a tree. Naomi had fallen through the tree Riku landed in and was now unconscious at the root next to a broken radio. Riku painfully unhooked himself from the smaller branches and climbed off the larger branch. He had multiple scratches up his arm and had gained a large gash down his left thigh. "Naomi, are you alright?" he asked. No reply came. He saw a large cut on her arm and a large graze on her waist. The clothing on her back was torn revealing a large, deep cut from shoulder to shoulder. Riku lifted Naomi onto his back and started to carry her trying to find a way out. Thanks to the gash on his leg, he couldn't go far and so collapsed with Naomi on his back. All he could do now was try to treat the wounds. He had no choice but to wait until the morning.

Back at the White Works, Sora and the gang had all met up and were now looking for a place to stay.

"You didn't get a reply," Marcus said. "It sounds like something could have happened to them."

"Yes so that's why we need to go out and find them," said Sora.

"We can't," Yuffie demanded. "No matter how much we need to, we just can't."

"Oh and why's that then?" Sora questioned.

"There is a large creature that lives in the open areas of the Niji-District," Marcus explained. "No one on the world has been able to capture it and anyone who has seen it has either gone insane or had never returned from the area."

"They say that it has large eyes that when you look into them, it remembers you and will not rest until you disappear for good," Chloe said. "And that it has large claws that can tear even the strongest man from limb to limb."

"Oh you're on about the Dark Thorn," said a voice. Everyone turned around and saw a girl with a yellow cloak and orange and green clothes.

"Rose," Kairi said. "What are you doing here?"

"I just got back from the Red Zone," she said. "See." She pointed up to her hairclip which had now changed slightly. Not only were there yellow, green and orange in three of the segments but next to the orange one was now a red one.

"What is that?" Sora asked.

"It's a competition clip," Rose replied. "Every year, the White Works hands out blank competition clips to the girls and blank competition chains to the boys. The aim is to go to every area and find these segments before everyone else does. The winner gets a free trip to a world called Hollow Bastion with up to 9 other people. Surely you would have known that, unless…"

"Unless?" Sora wondered.

"Unless you're not from this world?" she said. "That would explain your strange attire."

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes," Chloe complained.

"So uhh how long is the time limit for this competition?" Kairi asked.

"We have one week to get all 6 segments and it's only been 3 days," Rose replied.

"4 segments in 3 days. That's not bad," said Marcus. "I guess you only need the Blue and Purple ones now."

"Yes. Tomorrow I get the Blue one and then the Purple one," said Rose. "Being from the Yellow Zone, the Purple Forest segment is the hardest one to get."

"Well do you mind if we help you get the Purple Forest segment," asked Zack. "Our friends went to search the Red and Purple areas but we lost contact with them."

"Ok sure," she smiled. "Just don't help my rival, Cordovan. He's been my rival since the start of high school. I've never lost to him so I don't plan to do so again."

"Ok well how many segments has he got," Yuffie asked.

"Right now, he's got 3 on his chain, yellow, orange and red," Rose said. "I heard he likes to go around the areas in a circle leaving one of the easiest last."

"Sounds like you know a lot more than your letting on," teased Chloe. Rose started to blush and panic.

"Th…that's n…ot what it looks like," Rose panicked. "Anyway. Do you guys have a place to stay seeing as though you're not from around here?"

"No we don't," said Sora.

"Well how about you stay at my place?" Rose said. "I'm sure my younger brother wouldn't mind sharing his room."

"Yeah sure, why not?" Kairi said.

"Great well it's not too far away. Let's go," Rose said as she started to walk down the Yellow Zone road.

"Do you think Riku and Naomi are alright," Kairi asked Sora.

"Riku's a big boy," Sora laughed. "I'm sure Naomi will look after him."

"That doesn't make sense," Kairi said confused.

In the Purple Forest, Riku had pulled out some bandages out of one of his belt pouches. He had patched up his leg and the scratches on his arm. He had also patched up Naomi's arms, waist and back. He had then taken off his black coat to let Naomi rest on it. He had also taken the liberty to find dry wood and set up a fire using his Firaga magic. After a while Naomi had woken up from her temporary coma. She looked around to see Riku had fallen asleep against a tree with the bandage roll in his hands. She looked down to see that her shirt had gone and she left in only in her bra and with bandages. She looked around for her shirt but when she found it, she found the back had been badly torn up. She therefore just put on Riku's coat and went over to him to wake him up.

"Umm Riku?" she said. He however lay very still. "Riku? Are you awake?" She still got no reply. Naomi then let out a sigh and smiled. "Thanks." Riku then stirred slightly but continued to sleep, however he began to smile.

"Ugh I have a feeling that Dark Thorn will find them," said Kairi. She, Yuffie and Chloe were now in Rose's room talking about recent events. Rose's room was fairly basic. She had a large room which had 2 yellow walls and 2 white walls. In one corner was her bed with a yellow duvet and next to it she had a desk with an alarm clock and a reading lamp. In the opposite corner was a large wardrobe with various boxes on top of it. On one of the white walls was a shelf displaying 5 complete competition clips on it. "What did you say it looks like?" Kairi continued.

"Well it looks something like this," Rose said as she pulled a drawing pad from under her bed and began to draw upon it. After a few minutes she put her pencil down and showed Kairi the picture. Although it was just a drawing, the Dark Thorn still looked quite large. It had long arms with four sharp claws at the end of each one. It also had long, bandy legs with 3 claws each but for some reason they were chained together by a long chain. It also had large waves of hair that looks a bit like fire as well as two large antenna. Finally it had a large mouth that was filled with sharp teeth and had large eyes.

"That looks amazing," Yuffie said as sat amazed at the picture.

"Hang on, if everyone who see's the Dark Thorn goes insane, how come you're able to draw it," Chloe asked.

"Ugh well, someone went into the Orange Plains to take pictures of the night sky," Rose started. "We don't know much about the incident but we do have a picture that he took of the Dark Thorn." She then looked down into the picture she drew. "That and he never returned from that night. We only found his camera the next day." Kairi couldn't help but look down as well. Yuffie and Chloe seemed to feel the same. "Hey now we shouldn't dwell on it. For tonight I want to come up with a strategy to getting my last two segments."

"Yes of course," Kairi said. "Oh by the way, this afternoon you were invisible. Can I ask how is that even possible?"

"Oh you mean the cloaking device," Rose said. "Well when everyone gets their blank competition clips or chains, that is all they are. But once someone gets 3 segments, they have a simple ability. Mine this year was temporary invisibility. Last year I got increased agility. They basically let you stand a better chance of getting all 6 segments."

"Ahh ok," Yuffie said. "I wish I had invisibility."

"Well you could have if you had managed to work on your Gravity magic back in high school," Kairi said. "And if you listened to Professor Xigbar."

"Hey now you know I couldn't get the hang of that easily," Yuffie yelled. "Anyway you had Water as your key spell. I mean seriously, isn't that the easiest one."

"No because I couldn't finish the course," Kairi complained.

"Hey now's not the time to fight," Chloe said. "We have to worry about tomorrow. First we find Rose's Blue segment, then we search for Riku and Naomi in the Red and Purple areas."

Naomi had now started to rest by the fire. She had managed to find some wild mushrooms nearby and was now cooking them with the fire. She wrapped herself tighter in Riku's coat when she heard a rustle. She turned around and was about to grab her chain whip when she realised it was Riku stirring from his sleep. When his eyes opened he saw Naomi sitting by the fire. "Hey sleepyhead," she said. "get enough sleep?"

"Yeah I guess you could say that," Riku laughed.

"Thanks by the way."

"Huh, for what?"

"For tending to me while I was unconscious."

"Hey I only did what anyone would do."

"Yes well I also need you to say sorry to me."

"Wait what for."

"For taking my shirt off. You didn't see anything did you!"

"No don't worry. I made sure to divert my eyes," Riku laughed. "Well sorry I guess." Naomi laughed too and continued to stare into the fire. "Hey do you think they'll find us tonight?"

"I doubt it," Naomi said. "Oh that reminds me." She stood up and wielded her chain whip. She then started to swing it around her head while casting Reflega. A white veil of light left the end of the bladed plate at the end of the whip. She then stopped casting magic and sat back down this time next to Riku against the tree he was sleeping on. "I just put a protective barrier around the area. It isn't too big but it should last the whole night. We don't want that thing finding us."

"Huh whats this thing?" Riku asked.

"It's a large heartless that has brought misery upon the locals," Naomi explained. "If we were found by it, we'd never return."

"Sounds serious," said Riku. "Well if it did find us, I would just send it flying." To this Naomi laughed.

"So are we going to get some sleep?" Naomi said.

"Yeah you can if you want," Riku said. "Now that I've heard of the giant heartless, I'd like to keep guard."

"You don't have to, the barrier I set up is still working," Naomi said. "If it falls, my weapon will let me know."

"Yeah alright," Riku said. He then sat forwards and lay down with his head resting on one of the roots. "Goodnight."

"Yeah Goodnight," Naomi said. She too sat forwards and lay back resting her head on the tree root. They both then fell into a deep sleep as the crackling fire died out.

**Ooh yay. I can just see it now. Fan-girls will pounce on Riku and Naomi like a dog on bacon. Chapter 18 next.**


	18. Aureolin Dawn

**Please review. I need your constructive criticisms.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 18**

**Aureolin Dawn**

The next day, Sora and the gang are now outside with Rose about to head over to the Blue Zone.

"So what exactly are we looking for and where will it be," Sora asked.

"Well it's a small blue segment that resembles each of these," Rose replied pointing to her competition clip. "The segments in the Yellow and Red Zones were all in the shrines so I'd assume it were the same for the Blue Zone."

"Alright then let's go," said Yuffie. She started to walk off but was then held back by Kairi.

"Wait a second," Kairi said. "We have to make sure Rose isn't seen or she'll be chased out of the area."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Yuffie laughed. "Well she has the cloaking ability doesn't she? Why doesn't she just use that?"

"A large group of outsiders walking down a road," Marcus said. "It looks too suspicious."

"Alright, alright so what do you suggest we do," Yuffie said getting agitated.

"This is really embarrassing you know," Yuffie complained.

"Aww I don't know, I think we look kinda cute," Chloe smiled. As Zack was the only one who was wearing blue, some people had to change. Rose had her cloaking device and Sora and Kairi's clothes allowed them special abilities so therefore couldn't change. Yuffie, Chloe and Marcus therefore had to find some old clothes in the White Works and steal them in order to decrease suspicion.

"I feel wrong for stealing clothes from people," said Yuffie. She just had a simple blue crop top with purple shorts and purple shoes. Chloe had managed to find a green shirt with a blue jacket and set if purple shoes along with purple skirt. Marcus had a green long sleeve shirt with blue denim trousers and green trainers.

"Well it's the best we could do," said Marcus. "Still I thought there was no colour in the White Works. Everyone had to be the same."

"Well the managers all live in the factory so they need other clothes in order to do recon in the 6 areas," said an invisible Rose. "It's so they can see how the people live and therefore produce products that will improve their lifestyle. Niji-District wouldn't be what it is today without the White Works."

"Huh, I didn't think of it like that," said Yuffie. "But I still hate these clothes!"

"Oh just grow up Yuffie," Chloe laughed.

In the Purple Forest, Riku had just awoken from his sleep. He opened his eyes and saw Naomi had fallen asleep against him, her head rested under his. He decided to stay still as to not disturb her. It didn't really matter because seconds late Naomi had woken up. It took her a few seconds to realise where she was before she jumped up in embarrassment. "Uhh… I'm sorry Riku. I didn't mean to," she panicked. Riku however just brushed it off by smiling at her. Naomi seemed to calm down a bit and smiled back. "So it seemed like the shield worked well."

"Yeah," Riku said. "And it's also bright enough for us to start to get out of here. I'm just going to climb this tree to see if I can see anything."

"Uhh Riku," Naomi started. Riku however proceeded to climb up. Half way up however, his leg gave way and he crashed into the ground. "Riku, Are you alright!"

"Yeah I think so," Riku groaned. "Ugh I guess we just have to head in one direction and hope for the best."

"Well the world is circular with each road a mile long," Naomi said. "They all start at the centre and spread out to the very edge. So no matter which way you look at it, we'll be a while walking."

"We'll I guess we should get going." Riku stood up but immediately collapsed. Naomi helped him up and supported some of his weight to relieve his leg. They then started to hike off into a random direction and hope for the best.

"Here we are then," said Sora. The large group had arrived at the Blue Zone shrine. "You can remove the cloaking device now Rose. We'll stand guard."

"Okay," said Rose. The air near them shifted and Rose appeared from within it. She went up to the shrine and started to search it. Sora and the gang stood around her looking around in every direction.

"So how rough are the people of the Blue Zone," Yuffie asked.

"Well they aren't as bad as the Red Zone," Rose replied. "But they still hate anyone from anywhere else. They only chase away the small children of 11 and 12 who are competing but anyone older should expect to be attacked."

"The people aren't the biggest threat," said a voice. Rose looked up and saw a boy towering over her. Sora and the gang turned around and were in total shock.

"How did you get past us?" Chloe exclaimed. She was however ignored.

"What do you want Cordovan?" said Rose. Cordovan was a fairly tall boy about the same age as Rose. He too wore a yellow cape but his seemed to be more of a gold rather than yellow and was rested over one shoulder unlike Rose's who had hers behind her. He wore a lime green shirt which faded to a darker green at the bottom. He also wore dark green shorts that were long enough to go over his knees. He also wore white trainers with Orange streaks down the side.

"What do you mean what do I want?" Cordovan said. "What I want to the last colour segment." He reached for his shirt and pulled on a chain that was hung around his neck. On the end of it was his competition chain with only one segment missing, the purple segment.

"Wait what happened to your tactic of going around in a circle," Rose said.

"Oh I changed my tactic especially to annoy you," Cordovan laughed. "I'll be seeing you at the finish line Rose." Cordovan pushed on his competition clip and small wings appeared on his shoes. He leapt into the air at an incredible height and flew off into the distance.

"Damn I don't like him," said Zack.

"Well I guess it's just banter," said Kairi. "You don't have a competition without any."

"No he's always like that," said Rose. "He's very competitive. Especially since I beat him for the first time at aged 11. Aha, I've got one." Rose stood back up with a blue shard that would fit into the competition clip. She raised it to her head and pushed the blue segment into place.

"Just one more to go," Sora smiled.

"Yeah but Cordovan will get the segment first if we don't hurry," Marcus said.

"Wait what about Riku and Naomi?" Kairi said.

"Look they'll be fine," Sora said. "Anyway, we might find them in the forest. They were going to explore there anyway."

"Fair enough," Kairi said. "Let's go Rose." The group ran off behind the houses towards the Purple Forest.

Meanwhile Cordovan was already wandering the Purple Forest searching for the designated site for the purple segment. "Damn it should be around here somewhere. They just had to make it harder for the Yellow Zone residents." He then heard a rustle nearby. "Huh. Who's there!" Naomi then appeared from the trees supporting Riku. "Whoa what happened to you two?"

"We got attacked yesterday and it didn't exactly go to plan," said Naomi.

"It couldn't have been the Dark Thorn then," Cordovan said. "It if was, you wouldn't be here. Well you wouldn't be here alive anyway."

"Well enough about us, who are you and why are you here?" Riku said.

"My name is Cordovan and I'm here for my last competition segment," Cordovan explained. "You haven't seen anything that resembles this have you." He reached for his chain and pulled out his competition and removed the blue segment.

"No we haven't," said Riku. "Do you need help finding it?"

"As long as you can run, I don't mind you tagging along," Cordovan said.

"I don't know about Riku running but I'm sure he'll give it his best," Naomi said.

"Alright let's go," Cordovan smiled. He pushed on his competition chain and his shoes became winged trainers. He launched forwards into the forest leaving Riku and Naomi behind, both of them shocked by his speed.

"I wonder if Cordovan has got his final segment," Yuffie wondered.

"I hope not. I've never lost to him," Rose said. The group had reached the Purple Forest and had started on their journey through it.

"Do you think Riku and Naomi will be in here?" Kairi asked.

"I'm sure their fine," Marcus said. "They're both tough people. They couldn't be taken out so easily."

"I hope your right," Kairi sighed.

"Huh," Chloe said as she stopped where she was. Everyone else stopped as well.

"What is it Chloe?" Zack asked.

"Heartless," Chloe stuttered. She ran forwards and drew his claws. She then ran behind the trees and out of sight.

"Hurry!" Sora said. He drew his Keyblade and followed her. Everyone else copied them and ran into the darkness.

Sora then reached a small clearing but as he did, Chloe was flung into him and they both collapsed. The rest of the group ran past them wielding their weapons and aiming towards the dark mass that had appeared. Tentaclaws had grown on the surrounding trees while the forest floor was covered in Possessors. Kairi dashed forwards and slashed into the group of Possessors but was then knocked back by a Tentaclaw. Marcus burst through the trees and grabbed onto one of the Tentaclaws. A second one attacked him but clamped onto the first one instead destroying it. Marcus then reverted to the second one and cut it from the tree with his sword. Zack ran in and smashed his hammer into the ground sending Possessors into the air which Yuffie then took out by throwing multiple shurikens. Kairi regained herself and took out the remaining few Tentaclaws. Sora got up along with Chloe who then dusted themselves off.

"You don't think…" Sora started.

"Dark Thorn? Nah it can't be. Can it?" wondered Yuffie.

"Well there's only one way to know," said Zack. He ran off further into the forest. He didn't pay enough attention and then ran into what he thought was a tree. He then looked up and saw that he had run into Riku and Naomi. "Hey look who it is," he smiled.

"Damn it Zack can't you ever look where your going," Naomi complained.

"But the heartless appeared," Zack panted. "I've got to find them." He then ran off again but this time followed by Riku and Naomi.

Sora and the others had managed to find Zack again at the edge of a large clearing but were then gawping at a dark creature that had appeared in the centre. Its long red 'hair' was waving from his head. Within the 'hair' was Cordovan being squeezed by the long red strands, his face pale. The Dark Thorn reared up onto two legs and let out a humungous roar that shook the trees.

"Th…the D... Dark Thorn," Rose stammered.

"Stay back," Sora said. "We'll finish it off." He ran in holding his Keyblade back. When he got close enough in, he swung the weapon round. The Dark Thorn however just grabbed the weapon and threw it into a tree with the blade stuck in the trunk. It then grabbed Sora himself and threw him into the Keyblade badly damaging his back. However Sora was able to stand up and pulled the Keyblade out of the tree. When he turned around however, Sora was then picked up again and squeezed in its giant hand. Sora dropped the weapon and was the dropped to the ground. Kairi assisted him by casting Curaga on him then running in again. The Dark Thorn swung out at her, which she then avoided. Sora saw a chance to attack and hit the Dark Thorn in the back of its leg. The Dark Thorn didn't appear to take much damage and just kicked Sora away.

Kairi ran in again and jumped onto its back. The Dark Thorn tried to throw her off but Kairi managed to hold on. She slashed at the red wavy 'hair' and it let go of Cordovan. He fell to the ground unconscious. The Dark Thorn grabbed onto Kairi then threw her into Sora. It then launched itself into the air and flew off into the distance.

"What the hell is going on!" Riku questioned loudly. "Cordovan, are you alright?" He limped over to him and hoisted him into a sitting position.

"I think so," he replied weakly.

"Cordovan!" Rose burst out of the group and ran over to him. "What happened to you?"

"Well I landed in the middle of the forest and found Riku and Naomi who I assume you know," Cordovan explained.

"Well I've heard of them from my friends," Rose said.

"Anyway, I flew off into this clearing. I saw that the ground was littered with purple segments. When I reached the centre, I was ambushed by the Dark Thorn. It grabbed me by its large hand and threw me into the air. Before I knew it, I was plummeting back down only to get caught in its hair. I then suddenly felt like something was strangling me, like something trying to take over my body."

"The artificial darkness," Riku said. "Pronex, Zurox and Mawlix must have been here. But how could they go as so low to murder innocent people."

"This is Pronex we're talking about," Sora said as he approached Riku with Kairi. "He is certainly very unpredictable."

"Well I think we should hunt them down. You know once and for all," Kairi smiled. "I'm getting tired of chasing them for them to get away."

"We still need to hunt and defeat the Dark Thorn though," said Riku. "Oh wait didn't you say that you found the purple segments."

"Oh yeah I need to get mine," Cordovan said. He tried to stand up but then a hand appeared in front of him holding the purple segment.

"I think you just need to get some rest," Rose smiled.

"And let you win?" Cordovan laughed. Rose handed him his purple segment but they didn't place them into the competition clips.

"Guys hold onto us," Rose said.

"Umm why should we do that?" Sora asked.

"Just do it," Cordovan insisted. The group did as they were told and each of them placed their hands onto either Cordovan's or Rose's arms. They then placed the final segment in place and they both started to glow. A light appeared underneath them and it shrouded all of them in its brightness. A few seconds passed and the light disappeared. The group then found themselves outside the White Works.

"Did we just…" Sora started.

"Teleport? Yes we did," Cordovan smiled. "It was a mechanism used for the people who find the last segment for their competition chains or clips. Distributed by White Works themselves."

"Now all we have to do is go to the highest room where the boss works and claim the prize to Hollow Bastion," Rose smiled.

"Ok we can do that," Yuffie said. "But just one thing. Can we get out of these awful clothes!"

**I'm not sure how you will respond to this but I hope you will like this as much as any other chapter. As always please review with honest opinions. Also I'm still doing my "choose a world" game. Just choose a world and your very own OC could make an appearance in your chosen world.**


	19. Black Dusk

**Last part of Niji-District and on the road to the final fight. Enjoy chapter 19.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 19**

**Black Dusk**

Rose and Cordovan had run off into the White works to try and beat each other to the front desk. Yuffie, Marcus and Chloe had recovered their original clothes and they, along with the rest, were making their way through the main entrance.

"So where's this de-colourise machine?" Sora asked. Riku looked around and saw 2 arch shapes either side of the front desk at which Rose and Cordovan were.

"I'm guessing those are the machines," Riku said. He then looked around. It was a completely empty, white, circular room. The wall behind them was all glass and shone a bright light into the desolate area. The only things were the front desk and the de-colourise machines which too were white.

"They really know how to decorate don't they," Kairi said. She then looked over to the front desk where the receptionist was waving them over. "Huh, I wonder what she wants." They all made their way over to where Rose and Cordovan were who were now both pouting and had their arms folded.

"Hello," said the receptionist. "I assume you are friends of these two."

"Yes we are," Sora said.

"Well as you may have seen, these two got to the desk at the same time," the receptionist said. "The prize is only for one person to win. So we therefore have a competition for the two combatants. In this sort of case, we have a race up to the top tower. At the top there will be a final golden competition clip and chain. The first person is to get to the top, replace the competition container and race back down."

"That sounds fair," Cordovan said.

"There are a few rules though," the receptionist continued. "Rule one is that power enhancements are forbidden. Rule two is that you must stick to the staircase. Use of the lift is forbidden. Rule three is combatants cannot touch the opponent. Do you accept these terms?"

"Yes," Rose and Cordovan said.

"Umm but why do you need us," Yuffie asked.

"You all have such unusual clothing," said the receptionist. "Could it be that you are not from this world."

"No we aren't," said Marcus. "We come from either Sunset Islands or from Terrace Reform."

"I see," said the receptionist. "Did you hear about Hollow Bastion?"

"No what happened," Zack said.

"Well they recently changed their name," the receptionist said. "Apparently the old king changed the name to Hollow Bastion but yesterday, the current king changed the name back to its original name, Radiant Garden."

"Ok that's cool, but this still doesn't explain why you need us," said Naomi.

"Well the king heard about a group of outsiders trying to find the cause of various worlds being frozen in darkness," the receptionist said. "He found out you were here so sent a telegram here." She reached under the desk and pulled out a letter with a seal on the front. Sora pocketed the letter and turned to the group.

"Its best if we read it before we leave," he said. "For now we just cheer Rose and Cordovan on."

"Ok contestants," said the receptionist. She reached under her desk and pushed a small button. The de-colourise machines sank into the ground and was replaced with a chequered flag on the ground. "Take your position." Rose and Cordovan nodded and took their places either side of the desk. "Ready?" Rose and Cordovan nodded again. "Go!" A gun shot sounded from the speakers and Rose and Cordovan shot off into the factory and out of sight. "If you would like, we can take the elevator up and wait for the contenders at the top.

"Yeah let's go," Chloe said. She ran over to the lift and pushed the button to call it down. Everyone else and the receptionist followed her and got into the lift. The receptionist then pushed the button labelled '70 (R)'. The doors closed and the lift started to move.

The receptionist looked at her watch and pushed a button on the side. The display changed to a screen showing a scan of the tower. "It seems Rose has already reached the 8th floor," she said. "Cordovan however has managed to get a tiny bit ahead."

"Well I don't mind who wins," said Yuffie. "It's all just a competition. No one should feel like a loser."

"Except or the person who comes last," Riku sighed. Yuffie delivered a kick to Riku's leg to which he yelped in pain.

"Hey Yuffie watch it," Naomi said. "He injured it when we got lost in the Purple Forest."

"Injured?" Kairi gasped. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want to worry you," Riku said clutching his leg.

"Well you could have asked me to help you," Kairi complained. "You know I'm able to heal you."

"Oh yeah I forgot," Riku said. "Oh and Naomi also got injured. Do you mind…"

"Don't worry about it," Kairi smiled. She wielded her Springs Despair and cast Curaga on them both. The warm feeling allowed Riku to be able to stand up properly. Naomi's back was also healed. Unfortunately for her, her shirt was still a little torn up. "It's not perfect but it should be enough till I can get some Hi-potion on it."

"Thank you," Naomi and Riku said.

"We have arrived," the receptionist replied. The doors swung open and a blinding light shone into all of their eyes. When their eyes adjusted, Sora could see a large circular area with rails and benches around the edges. At one side, there was a tower which Sora could only assume was for telecommunications. At the centre, a circular podium stood and upon it stood 2 golden objects, the golden competition clip and the golden competition chain. There was also a light breeze blowing over the top. Sora thought this was to be expected as they were 1 mile above ground. The last thing at the top was the holder for the lift and the top of the stairs.

"Whoa this is brilliant," said Zack who then proceeded to leave the lift. The others walked out except for Chloe and Yuffie who ran to the edge to look at the view.

"Wow that's weird," Yuffie said. Yuffie could see the Red, Purple and Orange Zones from her side. Each area was their name sakes colour. From ground level it didn't look like each area had much to do with their namesake but from higher up, each colour fused together to make a vibrant spectrum.

"So where are they now?" Sora asked.

The receptionist looked at her watch display and looked at the scan. "Rose had reached the 15th floor but seems to have slowed down slightly. Cordovan has also slowed down and had just reached the 14th floor."

"And they have 70 floors to climb," said Kairi. "If they were to put up with the pain, they must really want to go to Hollow… uhh I mean Radiant Garden. Is it really that good there?"

"The winner of the competition gets a full tour of the world with various activities to do there as well as staying at the best hotels in the area they are in," said the receptionist. "Rose has managed to win only once but has always beaten Cordovan. She said it was the best trip she has ever gone on and has entered every year since."

"Wow," Sora gasped.

Some time later, everyone was starting to get agitated from waiting. Riku and Zack had even started sparing near the telecommunications tower. "Ugh where are they?" Sora complained.

"Rose is floor 62 while Cordovan is floor 64," said the receptionist. "But their speed has fallen so much. They are pretty much walking now, and not even at normal pace."

"Ugh," Yuffie complained. She walked over to the top of the stairs and yelled down them. "Hurry up you guys!" She then heard a roar. "Uhh, guys?" A shadow then shot out of the tunnel of stairs and landed in the centre. The Dark Thorn had appeared once again and was back for revenge.

"Damn it, why can't it leave us alone?" said Riku stopping his paring with Zack and turned on the Dark Thorn. Kairi and Sora too summoned their weapons and turned on the Dark Thorn. The others too had wielded their weapons and prepared for battle. Sora was the first to make a mistake. He ran in with the keyblade but was batted back onto his stomach. Kairi helped him up and turned back on the Dark Thorn. "Sora, just follow my lead." She ran in and held her Springs Despair in front of her like a shield. When she got close enough, she rolled under the Dark Thorns arm and got behind it. The Heartless however turned around really quickly and tried to hit Kairi who was managing to dodge each attack. With its back to Sora, the enemy was wide open. Sora ran in and leapt up. Her jabbed straight into the heartless but then bounced off. "What the hell is protecting it?" Sora said.

"What the hell indeed?" said a voice. A dark portal opened up and Zurox walked out smiling to himself.

"You!" Sora shouted. "What did you do?"

"I didn't bring the heartless here if that's what you're asking," Zurox said. "The Heartless was born here. I just merely enhanced it."

"By enhanced you mean the artificial darkness," Sora snapped.

"Oh you've caught on," Zurox laughed. "I guess your tomb with remain a mile high." Zurox then disappeared leaving not a trace.

"Shoot, he got away," Sora said. "Wah." He was then knocked away by the Dark Thorn who had managed to hit Kairi.

"I've got an idea," said Yuffie. "Naomi, cast your Reflega around the area."

"I need to be in the centre to do that," said Naomi.

"Ok then." Yuffie ran at the Dark Thorn and threw a shuriken at it. The metal bounced off the Dark Thorn but it managed to get its attention. The Dark Thorn ran towards Yuffie who ran started to run away. "Go Naomi!" Naomi obliged and jumped onto the central platform avoiding the gold objects and started to swing her chain whip around her head. A silver light emitted from it and then shield then appeared then disappeared again.

"Done!" she yelled.

"Okay," Yuffie smiled. While she was running away, she raised her shuriken and cast a spell but didn't utter a word. She then jumped but for some reason she flew up into the air as if she were a feather. She then turned around in mid air and rebounded off the Reflega. She dove into the Dark Thorn dealing heavy damage and smashing it into the ground. "You see I've improved much more on Graviga."

"Yuffie you little genius," Sora said. "Alright, let's do this." Sora ran towards the edge and stood against the Reflega wall and started to walk up it thanks to Graviga. Once high enough, he started to cast Thundaga down onto the Dark Thorn. As he did this, the patterns on his shorts started to increase. Kairi and Riku followed up the attack by sending Blizzaga and Firaga respectively. The barrage of magic stunned the Dark Thorn rendering it paralyzed. The three of them had managed to fill up their power gauge and were primed and ready to attack. Kairi went first and sheathed her weapon. She held her had up into the air and allowed the pinkness from her dress to seep up into her hand. The pink then turned to blue and it erupted encasing her in and ice shell. The ice then shattered revealing Kairi who had gone under a full body transformation. Her whole body had turned to ice as well as her dress which was still waving as if it were made of fabric. Kairi leapt into the air and punched in mid air repeatedly. From each punch came a fist of ice which then shot into the Dark Thorn. Kairi then raised her hands above head and summoned a large ice ball which then smashed into the Dark Thorn. To finish off, Kairi then dove downwards into the Dark Thorn and hit it at high speed encasing it in ice which then shattered and stuck into the enemy hurting it.

"Riku tag in!" Kairi yelled. She slid over to Riku, changed back then slapped his hand which then shot into the air. The tattoo's on his arm rose up into his hand and changed from black to red and erupted around him into flames. The fire disappeared leaving Riku behind whose whole body changed into fire. He flew around the paralyzed Dark Thorn and created a ring of fire around it. When he left the ring, it shrunk and burnt into the enemy scorching its dark shell. Riku then shot up into the sky and fire multiple fireballs from his hands which flew into the Dark Thorn with such force. To finish off, Riku dove into the Dark Thorn setting it alight. The fire died down and Riku reverted back into his original form.

"Alright, we did it!" he cheered.

"No wait!" Sora said who had now fallen back to the floor. The Dark Thorn had managed to regain itself and was about to pounce when Cordovan burst out of the staircase closely followed by Rose, both were panting heavily. Cordovan however had enough strength to run over to the central table and get his golden competition chain. Rose too followed and grabbed her golden competition clip. The Dark Thorn then turned around and headed straight for them. Rose screamed as it approached and ducked down. Cordovan was however unlucky and grabbed by the Dark Thorn. The giant Heartless could stop in time due to its injuries and slid over the rails, smashing through the Reflega, dropping Cordovan and then both fell over the edge.

"Cordovan!" Rose ran over to the edge and just dived over the side to try and save him.

"Rose!" everyone yelled.

"Sora, go after them with your transformation," Kairi said.

"Okay," he replied. Sora ran to the edge and jumped crossing his arms. In mid air he transformed so his hands and feet were encased in thunder. He ran down the side chasing after Rose and Cordovan. A quarter of the way, he had managed to reach Rose and shot out to catch her. He then cast Thundaga out of his feet and he shot like a bullet down to Cordovan. After a few seconds he had caught Cordovan and shot past the Dark Thorn. Eventually he had reached the ground and placed the two of them down. He raised his arm and in a flash of light, his whole body was encased in thunder. He shot into the sky towards the Dark Thorn. He cast Thundaga straight up into the enemy. He then shrunk into a ball and shot even quicker into the Dark Thorn through it causing it damage. To finish it off, Sora changed into a spear shape and shot down through the Dark Thorn. Upon impact, the Dark Thorn exploded into the shadows and disappeared. Once Sora had reached the ground, he reverted back into his original form where he was then attacked by his large group who had used to elevator to the ground.

"You saved them Sora," Riku cheered.

"You really are the hero," Yuffie smiled.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted who then jumped into his arms and embraced him with a kiss. When they released each other, they had left a kind of awkward silence.

"So uhh, who won then?" Sora asked.

"Rose did," Cordovan said. "She risked her life to try and save me. No one could be more deserving of the prize than her."

"Oh that's really sweet," Rose smiled.

"Oh we have a winner?" the receptionist said. "Then I declare Rose the winner of this years competition." This was followed by a round of applause. "You, Rose, have won 10 tickets to Radiant Garden for friends and family."

"Great and I know who to take," Rose smiled. "I'd like to take you guys with me."

"Huh, really?" Yuffie exclaimed.

"But we didn't do much," Sora said.

"Well it's my way of saying thank you for saving my life as well as Cordovan's, Sora," Rose said. "Plus it wouldn't be fair if you went and you left the other behind."

"Well we need to go to Radiant Garden anyway," Riku said. "Remember the telegram."

"Oh yeah," Sora said who then proceeded to pull the telegram out.

"Don't you know?" Cordovan said. "Radiant Garden requires a 2000 munny admittance per person. They are very tight on security. Even the king wouldn't let any exceptions through."

"Well that's fair enough," Kairi said. "We gratefully accept your gift."

BZZT. "Huh?" The receptionist looked down at her wrist watch and pushed a button. "Oh no! There's something heading towards the White Works at high speed." She looked up at the sky. There was a dark orb flying towards the tall tower. It hit the side and exploded into darkness. The darkness spread over the tower turning it from crystal white to pitch black.

"Sora I think it's time to leave," Riku said.

"Right." The large group ran around the tower and headed down the Red Zone.

"I'll head back and try and stop it," said the receptionist. She turned around and ran into the White works.

"Do you think we should have told her?" Sora asked.

"Best not to tell anyone, including them," said Marcus.

"Tell us what?" Rose asked.

"Uhh nothing, just run," Marcus said.

After some time, they eventually reach their ships. The darkness was out of sight so they had enough time.

"What's going on?" Cordovan asked.

"Nothing," Sora said. "You stay here and… keep guard."

"We can't leave them here," said Riku.

"They we can't take them with us," Sora said. He ran onto the ship along with Kairi. Riku hesitated a bit but then ran onto the ship too. He went to the control desk and fired up the engines. Both of the gummi ships flew up and started to leave the atmosphere. Riku began to think about Rose and Cordovan. Looking out of the window, he could see them looking up.

"Not this time," Riku said. He pulled on the levers and flew the ship back down.

"Riku what are you doing!" Kairi said.

"Going back for Rose and Cordovan," he said. "We can't abandon them like we did to everyone else." The ship flew down and landed back on solid land. Riku then went to the door and activated it to open. "Get on you 2. The darkness will hold you permanently if it gets you." Rose and Cordovan looked at each other then smiled. They ran up to the door and dove in. The door closed behind them and Riku got to the controls again. As they started to fly away, the darkness reached the area. It tried to claw at them but thanks to Riku's flying, they managed to get away.

**Ugh this chapter could have been better. I am sorry that it is rushed, it's just I have important exams at the moment. Updates will be slow but as soon as exams are over, expect the end of this story and the start of the next one. Anyway, keep reading.**


	20. Breaking the Rules

**Ok im gonna just go straight into the story for this chapter. No introduction. Hang on, is this an introduction?**

…

**Damnit!**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 20**

**Breaking the Rules**

"We can't take outsiders with us Riku!" Sora, Kairi and Riku were in the control room while outsiders Rose and Cordovan were watching them. The 3 of them hadn't stopped arguing since they left Niji-District.

"I've told you we can't just leave people to suffer in the artificial darkness," Riku said. "We had to leave the Neverland residents and even our own home. I hate knowing that they can't do anything to get out of it."

"Well what else can we do?" Kairi sighed. "Having residents leave their home world can only lead to problems."

"What about that prize to Radiant Garden?" Riku stated. "I'm pretty sure that's a different world yet Niji-District has a close connection to it." Sora stood in shock staring at Riku. Kairi had also quietened down. "And what about us? Pronex, Mawlix and Zurox forced us to leave our world. Would you say we're causing problems?"

"Well no but…" Sora started.

"But nothing," continued Riku. "We're going around these worlds in order to restore it back. But those men keep messing up our hard work. If they have the nerve to mess up hundreds of worlds, I'm pretty sure 2 people won't be a problem." Sora looked down in shame. Kairi started to head back to her room but was then blocked by Rose.

"We don't exactly know what's going on," she said. "But we promise we won't be a burden. We will do our best to prove to you we belong."

"I never said you would be a burden," Kairi said. "I'm glad you've come along. We are just angry at Riku. Now if you'll excuse me." Kairi pushed past Rose and disappeared down the hallway to her room. Sora started to head down the hallway too but Riku grabbed onto his shoulder.

"I know I shouldn't have taken them along," Riku said. "We will head over to Radiant Garden and we drop them off there. Once we sort out this issue, we can send them back." Sora however just pushed Riku's hand away and headed down the hallway.

"He doesn't hate you does he?" Cordovan asked.

"No I don't think he does," Riku answered. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened." He remembered the incident a while back when Sora yelled at him for what the Riku clone did. Riku looked down and turned around to the control desk. "Rose, do you mind helping me find some things out?"

"Yeah sure," Rose replied. She got up and headed over to the control desk looking at the display screen.

Sora was in his room lying on his bed. He remembered when the Riku clone attacked him back in the mines of Dwarf Woodlands. He felt betrayed at that time, and what had happened now felt the same to him.

"Umm Sora?" Kairi asked who was now stood on the other side of Sora's door. "I know how you must be feeling, but Riku is only doing what he believes must be done. May I come in?"

"Yeah sure," Sora sighed remaining where he was. Kairi opened the door and walked in closing the door behind her.

"You know Riku is a kind person," she said.

"I know he is," Sora said. "It's just…"

"Just what?"

"It's just he never thinks about the consequences of his actions. He's always been like that, jumping into trouble." Kairi giggled at this causing Sora to look up. "What's so funny."

"You obviously don't know yourself too well do you?" Kairi laughed. "Don't you remember what you did about an hour ago? You jumped off a mile high building without much hesitation. If that isn't jumping into trouble I don't know what is."

"Shut up," Sora said smiling to himself. "So anyway, are we heading to Radiant Garden soon?"

"Well when I came over I saw Riku and Rose at the controls so I assume they were researching it. I'm gonna head back. Are you coming?"

"Nah I think I'll stay here for while." Kairi smiled and went out of the room. Sora adjusted himself on his bed and rested his head against his pillow and fell into a deep sleep.

"Hello Sora. Long time no speak." Sora opened his eyes and he was once again in the station of awakening. The glass floor depicted Sora holding his keyblade down his side. Looking closer he could see a second keyblade in his other hand which was rested over his shoulder.

"Hello Mr Voice," Sora said.

"Hehe. Never thought I'd be called Mr Voice," the voice laughed. "This is only a quick converse Sora. You may remember last time; I gave you special training in order to be able to use 2 weapons. You have not had much opportunity to practise. Soon there will be an opportunity to do so. And by learning things for the future, you can regain memories from the past. That is all for now. I hope to talk soon, maybe even meet you."

"Ok thank you, Mr Voice," Sora smiled. He closed his eyes once again and he fell asleep from the station of awakening.

Sora woke up again but as he tried to get up, he realised he couldn't feel his arm. When he looked over, he saw Kairi was fast asleep on it. She looked so peaceful and Sora couldn't help but think how cute she looked. Smiling to himself, Sora lay back down and he too fell asleep.

**I know short chapter but hey ho. See you soon.**


	21. Garden of Sanctuary

**Ok no more Disney. It's all serious from now on for about 10 chapters. Ooh it's very reminiscent of my first story. Ahh the high school, so violent yet so fun. Anyway enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 21**

**Garden of Sanctuary**

**Welcome to Radiant Garden**

Riku pulled on various levers and the large gummi ship landed on the outskirts of the city walls. Next to them, Marcus landed his craft and disembarked.

"So we're finally here," Sora said.

"Yeah looks it," Marcus replied. "I assume we just show out tickets to the guards and they let us past."

"Well sort of," Rose said. "Not only do we show the tickets but the winner of the tickets must show their competition clip or chain."

"Oh actually thank you for letting me do a few scans of those by the way," Riku thanked.

"Oh don't worry," Cordovan said. "It's a benefit to us mostly."

"Well that's good," Riku said. "Come on then. Let's go." Riku headed off the group while everyone followed him. Sora however stayed where he was.

"Sora, Kairi Riku.

I trust that you have managed to receive this letter without much trouble. I understand that you are traversing space in order to stop a small group of people from completing their task. I have a small favour to ask of you. I wish for you to have an audience with myself where we can discuss various things about your task. I may even have some information that could assist you. Unfortunately, I am based in the world Radiant Garden, a world with high security. Even I do have the power to bring outsiders into our fair city. You will have to make your way into Radiant Garden on your own. I hope to see you in the near future.

Yours Sincerely, King Ansem of Radiant Garden."

"Good day outsiders," said one of the two control guards in front of the large gate. "I trust that you have your admittance fee of 2000 munny."

"Well actually we are all residents of Niji-District," Yuffie lied. "We all got tickets to enter your wondrous city."

"Ahh from your annual competition," said the second control guard. "We need you to show all ten tickets and the competition clip or chain which won the contest."

"Uhh that would be me," said Rose. She stepped forwards and removed her golden competition clip and handed it to the first guard. He looked at the back and examined it carefully. He then took the tickets and checked each one.

"Residents of Niji-District, Welcome to Radiant Garden," said the guard. He turned around and placed his hand on the scanner behind him. A few seconds later, the gate swung open revealing a long path surrounded by tall buildings and at the far end, the gang could see a courtyard where various people were.

"Come on guys," Yuffie smiled. "Let's go!" They then headed off down the path and towards the courtyard.

The courtyard was full of excitement. Yuffie and Chloe stared at as many things as they could while the others just took in the excitement. The courtyard consisted of 3 levels. On the top level were various, Victorian style houses and in front of each was a market stall selling various items from food to weaponry. At the north and south sides of the courtyard were stairs leading to the lower level. They lead to tunnels which Sora could only assume lead to other parts of the city. In the central level were various street performers. There was a man juggling skittles while riding a unicycle around the central fountain. There were also various musicians including a guitar player and a one man band. The person getting the most attention however was a girl with blonde hair and was wearing a black coat. She was standing on the fountain edge while playing a blue violin at quite a quick rate. Sora wasn't sure but with each note of the violin, the water in the fountain danced around the pool. Sora decided he was seeing things.

"This place is amazing," said Yuffie.

"Yeah it is," Rose smiled. "More so than ever. It must have improved ever since King Ansem changed the name of the city back. I never liked the name Hollow Bastion."

"So what are we going to do?" said Zack.

"We need to go to Radiant Garden's central castle," said Riku. "There, everything in the city is governed and it's where King Ansem resides."

"Oh yeah to get information on where to go," said Marcus. "That's fair enough. Say if you 3 head off there, the rest of us will explore the city."

"Ok sounds good," said Sora. "I'll assume the castle is south so I'm heading down here." Sora started to head towards the southern tunnel but then immediately turned back. "Ok I forgot the castle is north." Everyone just sighed while Riku and Kairi proceeded to follow him.

"So Radiant Garden is the only city safe from the darkness?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah," Riku replied. "The castle has a security system that sends a protective barrier around the whole world. It's really impressive. We won't see Pronex or any of them. We won't even see any Heartless."

"That sounds really cool," Sora said. "I wonder what Ansem has that we could use."

"Sora! That's rude," Kairi yelled. "You should always say King before a king's name. It's impolite."

"He's not our king Kai," said Sora. "Besides, there's no one around here to hear what I said. I'll be fine."

"Well you still need to be polite when we get there," Kairi complained.

"Fine, fine," Sora said. "Oh wow would ya look at that." The trio had come to the end of the path and had reached a gate leading to a set of stairs that went to the front entrance of King Ansem's castle. Outside the gate stood a couple of guards much like the guards at the world entrance.

"I believe you must be Sora," said the Guard to the confused brunette.

"Uhh, yeah but how do you…?" Sora started.

"Our King is expecting you," the Guard interrupted. "He gave us basic descriptions of you three. So in theory you two must be Kairi and Riku."

"Yes we are," Riku said. "King Ansem said he wanted to help us to defeat 3 men who are causing trouble to the worlds."

"Very well," said the Guard. "Come this way. We will take you through an alternate route straight to our King." The guard stood to one side and faced the brick pillar holding up the gate. He pushed in one of the bricks and the gate opened up. He then pushed a second brick and the first 20 steps sank down into the ground to create a new staircase going into the ground. The guard then guided the trio down the staircase which then rose back into place once they had gone far enough.

Some time later, Sora, Kairi and Riku had emerged out of the tunnel and into a new set of tunnels. They seemed to be well maintained compared to the tunnel they just went through. The walls were wallpapered with yellow with white patterns along the base. At the end of the tunnel stood a wooden door. The guard then headed towards the door but then stopped just before he opened it.

"I must warn you that King Ansem does all the worlds scientific advancements himself," the guard explained. "He did have some assistants but after 6 of them suddenly disappeared, he has never trusted anyone with his work. All I ask is that you respect this and that you do not touch anything in the room without permission."

"I'm sure we can follow that, can't we Sora," Riku laughed.

"Well I know can," Sora said proudly.

"Yes we accept the terms," Kairi said ignoring the banter.

"Very well," the guard said. He knocked on the door to hear a voice from inside.

"Who is it?" said the voice.

"Guard #358 reporting from the front entrance gate with 3 guests," the guard said. "They are here by request from you."

"Alright, send them in," said the voice. The guard opened the door and held it open for Sora, Kairi and Riku. Once inside, the guard closed the door and Sora could hear the sound of footprints walking away. The room they were stood in was really messy, especially for a king. The walls had the same yellow wallpaper with white patterns. Scattered on the walls were various pictures and diagrams which looked too complex for Sora to understand. There were also various desks of various sizes each one with mounds of paperwork and books. On the central, white desk stood a couple of green jars with what looked like hearts floating inside them. Behind the desk sat a man in a white lab coat. He had bleach blonde hair which was highlighted by the red scarf he wore around his neck. He was shuffling through paper which he then placed inside a draw. "Good afternoon to the three of you. I am King Ansem of Radiant Garden. For today only, you may address me as Ansem."

"Thank you for seeing us King… uhh I mean, Ansem," Sora said. "The letter you sent us. It said you hold information that could help us on our journey."

"Yes I did write that," Ansem said. "Unfortunately I do not have the information in this room. What I am about to show you cannot be shared to anyone outside of this room. Come." Ansem stood up from behind his desk and walked over to one of the walls. He lifted up a large portrait of himself and moved it out of the way. He then placed his hand on the wall which then flashed with light. After he removed his hand, the wall then started to glow and then it disappeared completely revealing a metallic hallway. Ansem gestured the trio down the hall and into a completely different room. The walls and floor were plated with metal with a metal door on the far side. On the right hand side there was a large, circular pattern with various lights and symbols on it. At the centre was a large red circle with a smaller white light at the centre. On the left hand side stood a large computer with various screens connected to it. At the centre of the wall was a large window which Sora could see thousands of containers which Sora assumed to carry various experiments conducted by Ansem.

"This here is the central control to Radiant Garden," Ansem said. "Here I monitor everything that goes on in the city. I obviously don't do this alone, do I Tron?"

"Of course not Ansem," said a voice.

"Whoa what was that?" Sora asked.

"My name is Tron," said the voice. "I am the central control to the computer. Currently I am connected to the file 'Hollow Bastion Maintenance' and I am searching for programmes that do not belong."

"Very good Tron," said Ansem. He turned to the trio. "I guess your wondering how I came to possess such a powerful programme. Well it all started a few months ago. I had recently come into power and I was searching through the old computer files when I found the old programme the previous king had put in place. It was dubbed MCP, master control programme. When I discovered it, it discovered me. It saw me as a threat and used a programme to transport into the computer using the device on the back wall. By being transported in, I had become an outsider and was put into the prison cell.

"In the prison cell I found the programme called Tron. He had been placed in the prison cell after he had gone against the MCP. There we devised a plan to escape from the prison cell and get me back to the human world and overthrow the MCP. After much struggle, I was transported back where I then uninstalled the MCP programme. From inside, Tron then battled the uninstalled MCP and triumphed. He then took control and ever since found information the previous king had hidden including the city's previous name."

"So I guess you found out about what we're doing and discovered information that could help us," said Kairi.

"Correct," said Ansem. "Now all I have to do is find the information and transfer it over to your vessel." Ansem started to tap away at the keyboard and then hit enter. "There that should transfer over now. Huh? What's happening?"

"Intruder! Intruder!" said Tron. "I have found hackers trying to break into the system. They seem to be trying to delete the information you're transferring."

"Pronex!" the trio exclaimed.

"I bet this is Zurox's idea," said Riku. "Tron, Is there anything we can do?"

"Well the easiest way would be to enter the data-space and attack the programme directly. Either that or I try and upload defences until the files and finished transferring."

"We don't mind going into the data-space," said Riku. "We'd like to get rid of them personally."

"Ok well stand in front of the scanner and prepare for transportation," said Tron. Sora, Kairi and Riku walked over to the centre of the room and faced the scanner while Ansem stood out of the way. "You will be transported to the prison cell. From there take the lift up to the main area and I will meet you there."

"Ok!" the trio said.

"The transporter is ready. Transportation in 3, 2, 1, initiate." The central red a white light began to glow brighter and brighter. It then dulled and 3 lasers shot out of the centre straight for the trio and covered them with an aquamarine light. The light formed into cubes around them and held them in place. A second aqua light shot out and absorbed each cube taking the trio with them. After they had disappeared, a final light shone and the box frame disappeared. Now all the trio had to do was venture into the data-space and defeat the hacker threat.

**Bit of an unusual chapter I know. It seems rushed but it really isn't. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter 21.**


	22. Data Manipulation

**Oh how we love our worlds within a world.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 22**

**Data Manipulation**

**Welcome to Space Paranoids**

Three beams of light appeared in an empty room. The room had 3 walls of glass and a computer terminal in the corner. The walls looked metallic in reality was just information. They were a dark blue colour with light blue lines pulsing through them. The three beams of light faded and there stood three figures, Sora, Kairi and Riku. They were all in their usual clothes except they had changed their colour scheme. The base colour was a dark blue while the pulsing lines had taken on the colour of their original clothes. Sora has black lines, Kairi has white and Riku has grey.

"Wow so this is what it looks like inside a computer," Sora exclaimed.

"Don't be an idiot Sora," Riku sighed. "This is the data space. This is where every bit of information is held and retrieved. Tron said to leave the prison cell and head up and elevator but I don't see a way out."

It was true. The door had been sealed shut with a black and blue door with no door handle on it. It was more like a wall than anything.

"Any idea's on how to get through?" Kairi asked.

"I say we whack it," said Sora who then drew his Kingdom Key. He proceeded to hit the door and as he did, black shards flew off of the door. Where the door was damaged however, it was sealed back up with more data. Riku bent down to look at the data but as he did, his Way to the Dawn drew itself and the data attached itself to the weapon.

"Huh? I wonder why it did that." Riku questioned.

"Who cares, lets keep hitting it," Sora laughed. He continued to hit the door and more and more data flew off it which Riku continued to collect. After a while, Riku's weapon started to glow. He aimed it at the door and a beam of light shot out breaking the door and leading to an exit.

"Cool, I wanna try that next time," Sora exclaimed.

"Whatever lets just get going," sighed Riku. He headed off through the door closely followed by Kairi and Sora. They eventually reached an elevator which Riku activated. A yellow light appeared from the lift to a higher point and the lift followed it. When they reached the top they were greeted by an unfamiliar face.

"Greetings users. I am Tron," he said. He was in a blue neon jumpsuit and wore what looked like a helmet on his head [1].

"Hi Tron," Kairi replied. "I believe you need our help."

"That is correct," Tron said. "The hackers have breached the MCP's old resting place. This is where the data was being transferred. I have managed to set up a few barriers around the perimeter but they won't last long."

"Ok so what are we waiting for?" Sora said.

"Well the main issue we have to face is that the solar sailor has been cut off by the hackers," explained Tron. "We have to get the solar sailor back up and running before we can proceed."

"And how do we do that?" Riku asked.

"Well the hackers but their own barrier around the lock which activates the solar sailor," said Tron. "This barrier is something I have not seen before and it can't be derezzed. So we need a manual way to destroy the lock."

"No problem," Sora said. He drew his Kingdom Key and held it on his shoulder. "We'll have that lock open in no time."

"Great. Follow me and I'll take you to the lock," Tron smiled. He ran ahead of them at quite a quick pace. So fast in fact that the trio didn't have enough time to react and catch up.

They tried to follow him as best as possible but no luck.

"Where the heck did he go?" Riku wondered.

"I don't know but I'm sure we'll find him soon," Kairi said. "Wah!" A Nobody jumped at Kairi and pushed her to the ground. It wasn't anything they had seen before. Unlike the usual Nobody's white skin, this Nobody had black skin with white neon lights. They knew it was a Nobody due to the way it was moving side to side. It resembled a long cable which shifted side to side in the traditional Nobody fashion. This Nobody was called a Connector.

"What are they doing in here?" Kairi complained as she jumped back up drawing her Springs Despair.

"It must be the work of Pronex," Sora said drawing his Kingdom Key. He ran forward to attack but was intercepted by a second Connector and bound in its wiry grasp.

"Sora!" Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn and went for the Connector that held Sora. He landed a hit and it released Sora dropping him to the ground. Riku then went to attack the Connector that attacked Kairi. He raised his blade but was intercepted by its long tail. Kairi swung her Springs Despair and swiped at the first Connector sending it into the air. She then leapt up and somersaulted into it sending the Nobody back into the ground. Upon impact it exploded into darkness and disappeared. Kairi's Drive gauge increased rapidly to almost full. She then dove into the second Connector delivering high damage. It too exploded filling Kairi's Drive gauge. Instead of Kairi's dress becoming pink, the white neon lights became a light violet colour. Becoming full, the violet light shone brighter than it did.

"Thanks Kairi," Riku said.

"Yeah we owe ya one," Sora smiled.

"Hehe, well I'll think about how you can owe me," Kairi said smiling to herself.

"We'd better hurry and catch up to Tron," said Riku. "He must be getting antsy."

"Right," said Sora. He ran off along the path followed by Riku and Kairi looking for the man in the neon suit.

They eventually reached a small, circular room with a control desk at the centre. Tron was waiting near it but couldn't go and work on it. There seemed to be a red, wire-like force-field around it stopping Tron from activating the Solar Sailor.

"This force-field was discovered when the hackers broke the Solar Sailor connection," said Tron. "I calculated that with enough power we can break the shield. Unfortunately I do not possess the energy to do so. Maybe with your user energy, we can break the shield and reboot the Solar Sailor."

"Ok im sure we can do that," said Sora. He drew his Keyblade and aimed it at the shield. "Ok this thing is going down." He ran forwards but was stopped by a Shadow heartless which jumped into him. It managed to knock him down with enough force that he dropped the Keyblade.

"What the heck?" Riku and Kairi exclaimed. The Shadow heartless wasn't its usual self. Its yellow beady eyes had disappeared and a red aura was coming from it.

"It's those creatures again," said Tron. "The red ones are the stronger out of the four."

"What do you mean 'the four'?" Sora asked as he stood back up summoning his Keyblade back.

"Well there are the blue ones who seem to be the weakest ones," Tron explained. "The red ones are by far the strongest ones. Yellow ones are the quickest and the green ones are the largest. They appeared when I tried to get near to the shield the first time. You have to be careful."

"Thanks for the warning Tron," Riku said. "Alright." He summoned his Way to the Dawn. "Time to take this shield down." He ran forwards and slashed at the red Shadow which died instantly. "Hah they may be different but their still just as weak." Riku glee turned into panic when lots more Shadows appeared out of the ground each one with a red aura. Sora ran past him and leapt into the air to slam down. The red Shadow heartless however climbed up on top of each other in a tall tower. The highest one leapt up to intercept Sora but he however shifted himself in mid air and slammed it into the tower. The whole tower disappeared into darkness leaving a few more which Riku took out. Sora's neon suit then started to glow light blue from its original black.

"Nice one guys," Kairi yelled. "Wait look out!" Sora and Riku turned around to see a giant Shadow heartless with a green aura. It was also backed up by a lot of yellow Shadows. Sora ran in to attack the green Shadow but couldn't get near it because the yellow Shadows were running in front of him. A giant claw then shot out knocking Sora back. The yellow Shadows then sunk into the ground and went underneath the green Shadow. They then rose back up lifting the green Shadow into the air. It had now become a fast moving, giant heartless. Riku ran forwards and tried to slide down to get the yellow Shadows out of the way but with its quick speed, the green Shadow intercepted him and knocked him into Sora. Tron fended off the heartless with his data disk. Kairi looked around at the shield to see if there was a weakness.

"Sora! Look at that," Kairi said pointing up. "It looks like the shield was weaker up there." The red, wire-frame shield certainly looked weaker at that point but would need a strong hit upon it to break it.

"It's quite high up," Sora said. "Kairi, change to Magic Form and freeze the area."

"Ok," Kairi replied. She crossed her arms and the pink neon shrouded her in light. Her hand and feet were encased in ice and she skated forwards. She blasted through the heartless and created a spiral slope of ice around the terminal and around the shield. Sora followed suit by crossing arms causing the blue neon to shroud him in light. His hands and feet covered in thunder. He shot forwards and somersaulted into the air. He then smashed into the ground and created a shock wave destroying the rest of the heartless. He then followed Kairi up the slope and raced her to the top.

At the top Kairi stopped creating a slope and jumped into the air. She punched the weak area of the shield freezing it where it was. She then began to fall to the ground using the cold air around her to slow her decent. Sora jumped off the edge and kicked the frozen area causing it to shatter. The shield shattered along with it allowing access to the terminal. He too started to fall not worrying about the impact. Halfway down, Kairi lost her grip on the cold air and started to fall faster and faster. In her panic, she reverted back into her original form.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled shooting down to save her. The fall was however too short for him to catch up. He wasn't going to make it. But to his surprise, a wounded Riku got up and dove underneath Kairi and caught her before she could hit the ground. Sora landed onto the ground using his magic form and then reverted back. "Kairi are you alright?"

"Yeah I am Sora," she said. "What about you Riku? Riku?" she looked down and saw that Riku had fallen unconscious. "Damn it." She summoned her Springs Despair and cast Curaga on him waking him up and healing most of his injuries. "Are you alright Riku?"

"Ugh… Yeah I think so," he stammered. "As long as you're safe."

"Heh, well I guess you don't owe me any more," Kairi smiled.

"Man I'm sorry, I couldn't catch up," Sora sighed.

"Don't worry," Kairi smiled. "I know you couldn't save me. Hey at least we got the terminal open."

"Affirmative," Tron said. He rushed over to the terminal and started pushing buttons. "There we are. The Solar Sailor is up and running. Also I put a shield around their terminal to stop them shutting it down while we're riding it. I have made ours a little stronger than theirs."

"Ok that's good," Riku said. "So, shall we get going?"

"We shall," Kairi and Sora laughed. They helped each other up and rushed after Tron who was directing them to the Solar Station. They were on their way to defeat the evil hackers.

**[1] Well where else would you wear a hat?**

**I'm not too sure about this chapter. It seems too cliché. Chapter 23 will be delayed due to exam period. But I do promise to upload faster than this afterwards. For now, keep reading.**


	23. Hacking into the Truth

**Ok let's wrap up this world as soon as possible. I'm not the biggest fan of Space Paranoids mainly because it forces you to play the light cycle game and I'm unable to do that mini game well. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 23**

**Hacking into the truth**

"Not far left until we reach the MCP's old base," said Tron. Tron, Sora, Riku and Kairi were all now riding the Solar Sailor after they had managed to get it back online.

"So is there anything we have to look out for?" Kairi asked.

"The hackers will detect the Solar Sailor when it gets close enough to the base," Tron said. "Thankfully we can get close before they can do anything. So I suggest we use these." He reached under the control desk and pulled out 4 metal bars.

"What are they?" Sora asked.

"They are called light cycles," Tron explained. "They are a transport device used to travel long distances if there are no other means of transport. You see the light coming from the back of the Solar Sailor? It's also on the front too. The Solar Sailor follows the light as if it were a solid track. If they detect us coming close to them, they will destroy the link manually. That's when we use the light cycles. We can sneak into the base from underneath them."

"Sounds like a plan," Riku said. "Huh? What's that?" Riku pointed further along the light track to a shadow in the distance. The shadow started to grow larger and larger as they got closer to it. When it was close enough, Sora could see that it was another Solar Sailor.

"How is this possible?" Tron exclaimed.

"What's possible?" Sora asked.

"This line can only support one Solar Sailor," said Tron. "That Solar Sailor has to be fake!"

"Fake? Well let's just prove that," Sora said. "Thunder!" He summoned his Keyblade and cast Thundaga on it causing it to shake around. The colours then started to change from its grey-blue to a violet-black. The whole thing changed to the dark colour except the heartless emblem appeared on the floor. "Knew it. Come on guys." Sora stood on top of the control desk and, when it was close enough, leapt onto the back of the heartless Solar Sailor. Kairi and Riku followed soon after. Tron too followed carrying the 4 light cycle bars. The heartless then shot forwards leaving the real Solar Sailor behind.

"Alright so how do we defeat this and get to the base?" Kairi asked.

"Well we know to use the light cycles to escape," said Riku. "I say we try and survive as long as possible."

"Ok let's do it," said Sora. "I'll look after Tron."

"Ok." Riku and Kairi said. It didn't take long before the heartless started to attack. The two side folded over each other into a cylinder encasing them all in darkness. A purple light appeared out of the floor and the roof directly above it. A laser shot between them almost hitting Sora in the foot. The two lights then started to move around the walls and in turn moving the laser. Sora tried to hit the laser away but it just passed through it.

"Is this actually harmful?" Sora wondered as he went to touch it.

"Sora, no!" Kairi yelled. He touched the laser but was then blown backwards and flew into the others.

"Ugh damn it Sora!" Riku complained.

"Sorry guys," Sora whined. "I'll make up for it." A second set if lights then appeared near the group. Sora pulled the others away from it and the laser activated just missing them.

"Oh yeah thanks for saving us Sora," said Kairi. "Just one thing, you pulled us between the two! Now we're stuck!"

"Oh why can't I do stuff right?" Sora complained. He drew his Keyblade and started hitting the walls. For a second Sora left the ground shake as if it was injured. "Alright I'm gonna make up for that." He then started to attack the walls and the ground started to shake even more. With one final hit, the lasers disappeared and the walls unwrapped. "See? I knew I could help."

"Yeah I guess," said Riku.

"Tron why don't you try and take control over the heartless with the control desk," said Kairi.

"Task confirmed Kairi," said Tron. He ran over to the control desk and pushed a few buttons. "It seems as if the 'heartless' isn't responding. We need a catalyst to take control."

"Hitting it seems to work," Sora said.

"That's your answer to most things," Riku sighed.

"Well it's true," Sora said. He raised his Keyblade and stabbed into the back of the heartless. It started to writhe and then began to pivot around the cable of light. Sora managed to hold onto the Keyblade with one hand and reach out his other for his friends. Kairi jumped and managed to grab on. Tron held onto the control desk and used one of the light cycle bars as a wedge. Riku slipped however and started to fall. He summoned his Way to the Dawn and stabbed it into the back with his legs hanging over the edge. The heartless then span the whole way round and reverted back to level. The Keyblade was pulled back out and Sora continued to slash into the heartless. Riku too pulled his Way to the Dawn out but staggered to the ground. Sora did one final slash on the heartless and it started to writhe in pain once more. The floor started to disappear as the heartless died. Sora was the first to fall followed closely by Tron and Kairi. Riku was the last to fall but he felt drained and weak and began to faint.

"What…what's happening to me?" he asked himself. "Argh my head."

"Give in Riku," said a voice. "Give in to the power you possess."

"What?"

"You have the power of darkness pulsing through your veins."

"Zurox?"

"Darkness is growing within you. Embrace the darkness and it can grant you the power to control what ever you want.

"Never!" Riku yelled.

"Riku!"

"Huh?" Riku caught a metal bar as he fell to the ground.

"Push both buttons on the bar and hold onto them!" said Tron. "Lean your body to turn!"

"Alright!" Riku replied. He held the bar in two hands and pushed both of the buttons, an orange light appeared around him in the form of a bike. He forced himself into a riding position and the blue light solidified creating the light cycle. Sora and Kairi too pushed the buttons on their light cycle bars. A white light formed around Sora while a yellow one around Kairi. Once their cycles had formed Sora saw a blue light cycle fly right past him into a nose dive.

"There is broken ground below," Tron said through the built in radio. "Try and hit it at a nose dive. Prevent yourself from landing directly behind the others."

"Why?" Kairi asked.

"Just follow the instruction," said Tron. He hit the broken land at the far, left edge and dashed off leaving a wall of light behind him. Kairi went into a nose dive too and landed onto the platform. She was a little less stable but at least she was off. Her yellow light wall was right next to Tron's. Riku followed and landed on the platform. His landing however was off and he wavered leaving a wall of light where Sora was going to land. Not knowing what the light did, Sora proceeded to land. The front wheel hit the wall of light and Sora's light cycle flipped but thankfully it landed well. His bike however was now less stable than the others.

"My apologies," Tron said. "I forgot to mention that the light your light cycle releases solidifies and becomes a solid wall. Just stick to your own sides and make sure you don't speed ahead or slow down. We fell close enough for us to not be detected so we should be there soon."

"Ok sounds good," Sora said. "Any way to repair my light cycle?"

"Unfortunately not Sora," Tron sighed. "Just try to avoid battling."

"Well that seems impossible seeing as we're attacking our mortal enemies," said Riku. He looks ahead and sees a large red light ahead. From the light he sees a small black object flying through the sky towards them. It lands about a mile away and hits the ground rupturing the data-space ahead. "Look out!" Riku shouted. He rode his light cycle up a broken platform and flew it onto another one. Sora and Tron rode up the side of the walls and crossed over at the centre. Kairi rode up another broken platform and launched herself into the air. She miss judged the landing and lost her balance on impact.

"Ugh they know we're here," Sora said.

"There must have been something on the heartless," said Kairi.

"Just keep going!" Riku yelled. He sped off ahead to try and gain ground.

"Riku stop!" Tron yelled. Riku was too far away to hear and continued to go ahead. The back wheel started to skid around but Riku managed to hold it. The light wall wavered slightly but still not enough to knock the others off.

"We'll have to speed up," Tron said. He pushed on the accelerator and zoomed off ahead. Sora and Kairi too sped up leaving yellow and white walls of light following the orange and blue ones. Sora wavered slightly but managed to regain control. Kairi too lost some control but she was unfortunate to fly up a platform. The bike smacked into a higher platform and the bike spun down damaged. Kairi landed back down but still had enough speed to keep up with Sora. Riku ahead however hadn't slowed down at all. There was small ridge in the ground ahead of Riku. He hit it and his bike started to skid around creating a large light wall across the whole road. He ended up smashing into a wall near the base of the MCP's old resting place.

"Brace yourselves!" Sora yelled. He, Tron and Kairi hit the wall at full speed. Tron's bike was strong enough to brace him so he wasn't too injured. Sora's and Kairi's bikes however were too damaged so they ended up flying into the sky towards a solid wall.

"Sora!" Kairi cried. Sora 'swam' through the air and held onto her. He impacted the wall cushioning Kairi. They then both collapsed into the ground highly injured, Sora more so. Kairi drew her Springs Despair and cast heal on them both healing most of their injuries.

"Thanks Kairi," Sora grunted.

"Idiot," Kairi replied. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah I do. I owed you from saving us from the weird nobodies before," Sora said.

"Well since I have plans for how you can owe me, this doesn't count," Kairi smiled. Sora complained.

"Enough of that you guys," said Riku. "Pronex, Zurox and Mawlix are all hacking into the system here. If we can prevent them, we can find out how to defeat them."

"Ok let's go," Kairi said. She ran to the wall and started to climb up the side. Riku soon followed.

"Damn and just when I thought I got away with it," laughed Sora.

"What does the term 'owe' mean Sora?" asked Tron.

"It doesn't matter. Let's just go," Sora replied.

At the top, Kairi and Riku pulled themselves up to be greeted by Pronex. He too was in the computer and his black coat had gained purple neon lights.

"Ahh I see you managed to make it this far," said Pronex.

"You won't get away with this Pronex," said Riku. "We'll get that information."

"Ahh now you see you won't," Pronex laughed. "We have almost collected all the data. And we plan to de-rezz it as soon as possible."

"De-rezz! You can't!" Kairi said.

"Oh I can, and you can't stop me," Pronex laughed again. "Do you really wish to fight all three of us?" Zurox and Mawlix too appeared behind Pronex, their coats also with purple neon lights. Zurox drew his shape-shifting staff while Mawlix summoned twin Sai's. "You stand no chance." Pronex drew his dual Scimitars.

"The information is ours for the taking," Zurox said.

"Nothing can stop us," said Mawlix.

"Prepare to perish," said Pronex. The three of them readied themselves for battle.

"Hold on a second!" Sora leapt up the wall and he too readied himself for battle.

"Ahh so there's the annoying one," Mawlix said.

"Who are you calling annoying you over sized-gorilla?" Sora taunted. Mawlix became angry and ran at him. Sora leapt into the air and vaulted Mawlix over the edge of the cliff.

"Mawlix!" Zurox growled. "You brat!" He ran forwards with his metal staff aloft. As he swung down, he pushed a button creating a shield and smashed Sora into the ground. Riku retaliated by hitting Zurox into the back while Kairi pulled Sora out of the way and she swung around hitting his legs. She and Riku then grabbed Zurox's arm and launched him over the side onto Mawlix.

"Damn it," snarled Pronex. "Still, you cannot beat me." He leapt backwards towards the central gap and threw his scimitars. They both hit Kairi and Riku out of the way leaving Sora alone. Pronex caught his scimitars on the rebound and ran forwards dragging the weapons into the ground, sparks flying everywhere. Sora retaliates by running with his Keyblade forwards like a lance. Pronex swung both his weapons up and slashed up. Sora shifted his body sideways in between the scimitars and stabbed Pronex in the chest causing him to fall backwards.

"Sora! It's done!" Tron yelled. Sora looked over to Tron who had gone to the control desk using his data disk to break the hacking programme.

"Brilliant Tron," Sora cheered.

"Shoot! Alright you win this time Sora," Pronex announced. "But believe me, this is the last time." He crossed his arms and he disappeared in a flash of green light. Behind him, two more green lights appeared and faded into the air.

"Than you for helping me users," Tron said. "I couldn't have saved the data with out you."

"Not at all," said Sora. "Kairi, Riku, are you guys alright?"

"Sora, Riku's not waking up!" Kairi cried.

"What?" Sora ran over to him and lifted him up. "Tron, could you transport us back?"

"Affirmative Sora," Tron replied. He typed up on the terminal once again and the trio disappeared into a green light and away from Space Paranoids.

**Ugh, that wasn't too good. I promise Chapter 24 to be better.**


	24. Dating Dilemma

**Ooh, I wonder what has happened to Riku. Wait a second. I do know. You do not. Oh I guess I'd better tell you then.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 24**

**Dating Dilemma**

"Sora, we have a problem." King Ansem had waited by the portal to greet the trio of heroes from their computer mission. "There was a second hacking of the system during the first. It attacked the programme [1]. It seems they were trying to add more data into the file."

"Riku data?" Kairi questioned. "You don't think it could be the reason Riku has collapsed?

"Most likely," King Ansem said. "I will take him to the hospital wing myself and I will get my team of doctors to sort him out. You will have nothing to worry about."

"Oh that's good," Sora said. "Well we'll leave it to you. Do you mind if we check out the data?"

"Unfortunately, due to the hack, it has to start the transmission again," King Ansem sighed.

"Ahh well. We'll just go and explore the city then," Kairi smiled. "We will see you later King Ansem."

"Take care," Ansem smiled back. Sora and Kairi took their leave and left Riku in the hands of King Ansem. Once outside of the front gate, Kairi piped up.

"Hey Sora," she said, smiling to herself.

"Hmm?" Sora replied lazily.

"I can get you to repay me for saving you," she said grinning.

"Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Well seeing as we are boyfriend and girlfriend, we haven't really done anything that would make us like that."

"Huh?"

"What I'm saying is I would like you to take me out, on a date," Kairi smiled.

"Is that all you want?" Sora asked.

"Yes?"

"Okay sure. I'll take you out on a date," Sora smiled back. "Where would you like to go?"

"Well there is a film I wanted to see in the Twilight…" Kairi hesitated.

"Twilight Town cinema? We're kind of too far away for that."

"Damn, I was looking forward to that," Kairi groaned.

"How about we just go into town."

"Okay sure." Sora and Kairi both headed down the stairs back into the circular courtyard where all the performers were.

The entertainment had died down a bit. The blonde violinist wasn't there any more and neither were the one man bands. They had been replaced by various mime acts and a living statue.

"What do you think is in town?" Kairi asked.

"Why don't we just walk around and find something fun to do?" Sora suggested. "Riku said on the ship that Radiant Garden is split up into 3 areas. The main city, the technology district and the old town. I guess we could explore each area in turn."

"Technology first!" Kairi cried. "I want to try out the modern entertainment."

"Sounds like a plan." Sora smiled and lead the way towards the shiny, metallic-looking area known as the Technology District.

The two of them reached the centre. The whole area was surrounded by tall buildings each one covered in signs and lights which were ready for the night. Sora couldn't believe that this wasn't the main city. There was one building in particular that caught Sora's eye. It was an equipment store specifically for the improvement of swords and shields. Kairi however had other ideas.

"No fighting today," Kairi demanded. "I don't want to think about the fight ahead. I just want to have a normal day, like a normal person."

"But Kai…" Sora started. Kairi however silenced him by looking into his eyes with a half serious, half upset stare. "Ok. You win. Could we spend about 15 minutes in there before we go to the main city later? We could do with some new supplies."

"Fine. But for now I wanna do this," Kairi smiled pointing to an arcade.

"Oh ok," Sora grinned. He walked over to the nearest machine, a claw machine, and put 2 munny into the slot. In the machine were various dolls, one of which was a large chocobo with moving wings.

"Try and get that one Sora," Kairi said pointing to the chocobo doll.

"Damn that's gonna be tough," complained Sora. None the less, he still made an attempt for it. The claw clamped onto head but slipped and failed to grab it.

"Ahh well never mind," Kairi sighed. "It was worth a try."

"Now hang on a second," Sora said. Kairi watched as he put in another 2 munny and had a second attempt. Again he failed to grab the chocobo doll. 20 munny later, Sora had one more attempt. He managed to grab it around the body and the claw clamped onto it. The claw lifted it up and then dropped it into the collection chute. Sora picked it up and handed it to Kairi. "Here."

"Really?" Kairi exclaimed. She grabbed onto it tighter as if she were a child. "But you spent so much just to get it."

"You wanted it right?" Sora said. "I don't mind how much I spend as long as you're happy." [2] [3]. Kairi smiled and started to walk away clutching onto the chocobo doll.

"Come on Sora!" she cried. "I'm not waiting for you!" Sora laughed and he followed her further into the Technology District of Radiant Garden. They went into various stores, at Kairi's choice, and eventually arrived back at the main entrance to the area.

"So what now Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Don't you want to go to the weaponry store?" Kairi asked. "You did say we needed supplies."

"Oh yeah. Well I guess we should go in then," Sora said. Sora leaded them inside where they saw various fighting tools including swords, shields and armour. At the back there was a section dedicated to healing medicines including potions and ethers.

"I'll be at the back buying Elixir's," Kairi said. "Don't hurt yourself."

"Don't worry I won't," smiled Sora. Kairi walked off to the back of the store towards the medicines while Sora made a beeline for the armour. On display were three full suits of armour each with their own distinctive features.

The central suit was highly detailed. The base colour was a black skin with yellow lines along it. Over the top were various guards which covered some of the black "skin" but not all. It had red arm guards which were connected to golden, metal gloves. The shin guards were similar with chunks missing from it but it too was connected to the metal shoes which were a base colour of gold. Its breast plate had a red centre which resembled ripped muscle while the top was a golden arch. The shoulder plates were black with a golden rim around the edge. The suit was topped off with a metal helmet which had a base colour of black with a golden back and what looked like red horns.

To its left was another, more feminine suit of armour. This too had a black "skin" except this had lilac patches over it. It had iron blue arm plates with extra parts at the top. They were connected to metal gloves which only cover the palm and the back of the hand. The shin plates were, again, iron blue and were connected silver plates which cover the feet. There were also metal hooks coming from the heels and connected to the back of the shin plates. The breast plate doesn't go around the whole body and instead just goes with the lining of the "skin". The breast had metal arcs which, being a feminine suit, lined the top of the bosom. The helmet was iron blue like the other parts and had a black screen over the eyes and a silver plate over the jaw. There was also metal "ears" coming out of the back.

On the right was a shorter suit of armour. This too had a black "skin" except this one had red lines along it. Its arm plates were similar to the far left suit, metal with a bladed part off the back. They were silver-blue with a pale gold frame. They were connected to grey, metal gloves which covers the palm and the back of the hand. This armour didn't have shin plates but instead had pale gold knee plates. On the feet were large metal shoes with the silver-blue colour and pale gold frame. Along the hips were metal pieces which resembled a rib cage. The breast plate was very similar to the first one except the stomach part was pale gold and the top was silver-blue. The shoulder plates were black with a golden frame around the edge similar to the first suit. The helmet was silver-blue had had a black visor with a golden jaw plate. The helmet also came with silver-blue horns similar to the first suit.

Sora continued to look at the suits of armour before he was interrupted by a disturbance.

"What do you mean you won't sell me these!"

"Yuffie?" Sora questioned. He looked towards the front desk to see Yuffie along with the others behind her. She had put down a set of glaives on the desk and was now arguing with the shop assistant.

"I am the owner of various shurikens so I don't see why I can't buy these," she complained.

"You need a weapon licence to buy any weaponry here," the shop assistant explained. "If you cannot show me this, you are not aloud to buy anything."

"What if I show you my weapon, huh? Is that proof enough?" Yuffie reached into her pocket and placed a couple of shurikens onto the desk. The shop assistant picked one of them up and examined it.

"4 pointed, blade at grade 1 sharpness. Oh hang on. Here's your proof." The assistant pointed one of the edges towards Yuffie to show her a mark on it. "This mark means it's a training weapon. Not to mention it's not even that sharp. You cannot purchase these glaives miss."

"Fine. What ever. I don't need your weapon. Come on guys." Yuffie walked out followed gingerly by Zack and Chloe.

"I'm so sorry about my friend," Marcus said to the assistant.

"We will not bother you again," Naomi continued. They both then left the store chasing after Yuffie. Sora just stood where he was in shock.

"What a great performance," said Kairi who appeared behind him. "Just when I though Yuffie couldn't become more embarrassing. Good thing we weren't with her this time and it's just us."

"Yeah I guess you could say that," said Sora still shocked by what had happened. "Oh, did you get those Elixirs?"

"I'm just about to purchase 10," Kairi replied. "Are you going to buy anything?"

"Well I was just looking at these," Sora said. He took a look at the price tag which read 200,000 munny. "Heh, guess I won't be buying anything today."

"Honestly, dragging us away from our date just to waste it," Kairi complained. "I'm going to buy these Elixirs." Kairi walked over to the checkout desk and put the Elixirs onto the top. Sora walked outside to see if he could find Yuffie and the others. They were however out of sight. He did however see a poster on one of the shop windows. It said that there was a music festival in the old town. Anyone was aloud to enter as long as they can actually play. Unfortunately for Sora, he didn't know how to play any instruments so he couldn't enter. He therefore decided that he would take Kairi there as part of their date instead. Kairi exited the store and went towards Sora. Sora however moved away from the poster in such a way to avoid her seeing it.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Uhh, never mind," Sora laughed. "Any way, let's go to the old town. Maybe we'll find something fun there."

"Yeah ok," Kairi smiled. The two of them started to walk away towards the old town. Kairi reached for Sora's hand and held onto it. Sora panicked slightly but then went to hold on just as firm as she was to him.

**[1] Yes I know .doc is the code for a word document. So what?**

**[2] I estimate 2 munny to be about £1 GBP.**

**[3] I know, full of cheesy lines. It was bound to happen. Don't judge me.**

**Chapter 24 done now. Chapter 25 out soon. Stay tuned, or keep reading or whatever.**


	25. Music and Misfortune

**Music festival time. Be sure to check out all of the pieces of music mentioned.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 25**

**Music and Misfortune**

"Sora, where are we going?" Kairi asked. "You've been dragging me around for about half an hour. Do you know where we are?"

"Hold on just one second," Sora replied. "We're almost there."

"I hope so. I didn't want this day to be used to wander the streets." A few minutes passed when they reached a small, open area. It was a dome shape and dug into the ground. Around the edge were hundreds of seats and a few paths cut into them while at the centre were a circular platform upon which was a grand piano stood at the edge. Many people had already taken their places in their seats and were awaiting the first act. "Wha… What's going on?"

"There is a music festival going on. I thought we could spend our date here," said Sora.

"Wow!" Kairi exclaimed.

"What?"

"I think that's the best idea you've had so far."

"Oh Ha, Ha. Do you really see me as an idiot?"

"Pretty much." Sora looked down in disappointment. "Anyway. Let's take our place." Kairi walked down the seats and took a place 3 rows from the top. Sora took his place next to her. They then heard a cheer as a tall man in his early 20's walked onto the stage holding a flute.

"Today I'll be playing a piece of music called Waltz of the Damned," said the man. He raised his flute to his lips and blew through the mouth piece. What came out was a beautiful sound that made Sora feel like he should dance to it. He became to wave his arms about, side to side. Kairi laughed at his strange movements and continued to listen to the flute. After about a couple of minutes, he stopped playing and took a bow towards the north audience and then the south. He got a round of applause and he hastily left the stage.

"That was nice," Kairi smiled. "I really enjoyed your… ahem… dancing."

"Heh. Just to make you happy," Sora smiled.

"Oh, the next act is coming on stage," Kairi said. A second person walked onto the platform carrying a clarinet. She was just as tall of the first and was about 18 – 20 years old.

"Uhh, hello," she said. "I will be playing a piece I wrote myself. I call it 'At dusk, I will think of you'." She raised her instrument and began to play a simple yet elegant tune. So elegant in fact it made Kairi fall into a sort of trance, her eyes closed so she could hear the music better. Sora couldn't help but just watch her as she fell deep into the music.

A few more people played on stage. First a pianist who played a piece he called 'Hand in Hand'. Second was a trumpeter who played 'Scent of Silence' and another pianist along with a saxophone player who played 'Destiny's Force' together.

"They were amazing, especially the last performance," Kairi said. "How many more are there?"

"I think there should be another 30," said Sora. "It said that people may be performing more than once." The crowd starts to clap as another person walks onstage. It was a blonde haired girl carrying a custom violin in blue. "Oh cool a violinist. Huh, hey, it's her. That blond haired girl from before."

"What was that Sora?" Kairi asked becoming irritated at the mention of a mysterious girl.

"Oh, well that's the girl that was playing the violin when we first arrived here in Radiant Garden," Sora said trying to save his skin. "I don't know her I swear."

"Hmm. I guess it sounds plausible," Kairi said still questioning Sora.

"Ahem. Hello everyone," said the girl. "I am… uhh…" She looks to where she just came from. "Roxanne, yeah. Uhh I will be playing a song called 'Simple and Clean'." [1].

Roxanne lifted her custom violin to her neck and raised her bow. She pulled it across the strings and a wave of sound rushed over the audience encapsulating them in beauty. As Sora and Kairi listened to it, they closed their eyes so they could focus on the sound more. Sora started to imagine Sunset Islands and imagined days when he used to practice sword-fighting on the islet with Riku and Kairi during their last year of high school. As the sound went on however, the images started to fade into darkness. The floor then began to form into a white circle and eventually a platform strong enough to support Sora. He landed on the floor with Kairi by his side. When he opened his eyes he knew that he had fallen asleep and was now in the Station of Awakening once again, this time with Kairi.

"Sora? Where are we?" she asked.

"Station of Awakening," Sora replied. "We must have fallen asleep during the violinist performance."

"Or maybe you just fell unconscious," said a voice. Sora and Kairi looked around to see Riku stood behind them.

"Riku! What do you mean?" asked Sora.

"The voice told me I had fallen unconscious," said Riku.

"And there is a very good reason for this," said another voice, this time from no clear source. "So far you have been living a life which shouldn't really have happened. You may not remember but you didn't travel around as a trio. There was another trio that went on your journeys with you."

"What? I don't understand," Kairi asked.

"You have forgotten your previous journey and learned a new one," the voice continued. "Sora, Kairi, Riku. Your forgotten past was with Roxas, Namine and Ventus. 3 people who you cared about, and who cared about you. Then a tragic bout with Pronex left them for dead. They were erased from life and soon forgotten about. They may have been forgotten but they're still of use to you. They left you with a parting gift." A flash of light appeared before the trio and from it appeared the three suits of armour that Sora saw in the shop. "Place you hand on the suits and you will be granted its special gift." Sora stepped forwards and placed his hand on the shortest suit of armour. The armour disappeared in a flash of light and Sora seemed to be full of energy afterwards. Kairi and Riku copied him and placed their hands on their corresponding suits of armour. A couple of flashed of light later and they too were full of energy.

"So now what?" Riku asked.

"Now you wait. To activate this new power, you must charge you powers up to double the strength. Only then will your true potential come forth. The final fight is soon. Be prepared." Sora, Kairi and Riku disappeared in a flash of light and they all re-awakened back in a medical ward surrounded by Yuffie and the others.

"What? Where are we?" Sora asked.

"You fainted in the old district," said Yuffie. "Three anonymous people brought you here. They all wore large coats except one had their hood down. If I recall, she had blonde hair."

"Blonde hair?" Sora pondered. He stopped when Kairi shot him a glance. "So uhh where are we then?" Sora asked again.

"You were taken to the medical ward of the castle," Marcus said.

"Well except for Riku who was already here," Naomi said. "It seems Ansem managed to sort you out then if you're alright now."

"Yeah very much so," Riku replied smiling. "So what about the information Ansem managed to find?"

"Sent to our ships," Marcus said. "We can when you feel up to it."

"Well I feel fine to be honest," said Sora. "What about you guys?"

"Yeah I feel alright," Kairi said.

"Yeah same here," Riku said also.

"Well let's go then," Yuffie cried out. She ran out of the room followed by Chloe who was also running. Naomi and Zack just walked out followed by Marcus too. Before Kairi and Riku left Sora piped up.

"Did you have a weird dream when you fell asleep?" he asked.

"Now that you mention it," Riku replied.

"Yeah I had a weird dream too," Kairi said.

"Yeah I had this weird dream that we were standing in a white area and a voice appeared…" Sora started.

"…and in front appeared 3 suits of armour which gave us all a new power?" Kairi continued.

"Did we all have the same dream?" Riku questioned.

They soon found the others outside and started to walk to their ships when they heard a rumble in the sky.

"Oh no is that…?" Marcus started. A beam of black light shot down into the middle of town and started to expand.

"The fake darkness!" Sora yelled. "Run!" They all ran past the gate and down the long stairs. However when the reached halfway, they saw the darkness had covered the bottom and was increasing faster. Sora took a dive over the wall and down the dusty hill towards the two ships. He was closely followed by the others who then crashed into him.

"Ahh that's a good feeling of nostalgia," Sora sighed.

"Sora stop reminiscing and move your ass," Kairi cried. They all got up and ran towards the ships. Riku summoned his weapon and threw it at the door opening it while running towards it. Riku catches his weapon, dives through the door and dashes to the desk. Marcus too runs into his own ship followed by the others. The two ships took off and started to make their way out of the atmosphere. After a few seconds, Riku starts to slow down.

"Alright we did it!" Riku cheered.

"BZZT… Marcus calling in to Riku," Marcus said through the radio.

"Whats wrong Marcus?" Riku asked.

"We have a situation over here," said Marcus. "Fly towards us but don't fly into the atmosphere."

"Affirmative Marcus," said Riku. Riku directs the controls to turn around towards Marcus's ship.

"What's going on Riku?" Sora asked. The ship turned around to show Marcus's ship had been caught in the atmosphere. The back of the ship was covered in darkness and was slowly being pulled in.

"What the hell happened!" Riku yelled into the radio.

"We were flying out but the darkness caught up and got us," said Marcus. "It's pulling us in so we can't come with you. It already has Naomi and Zack."

"Stuff it, it's inevitable." Sora hears.

"Yuffie no! Damn it, Yuffie jumped into it," Marcus reported. "Look just go on to their stronghold. You have the co-ordinates. Good luck my friend. BZZT."

"Marcus? Marcus! Damn," Riku complained. He put the radio down as he saw the ship being pulled into the dark mass and out of sight.

"Damn why didn't they request to come on board," Sora wondered.

"Maybe they didn't want to be a burden," said Kairi. "They told us to go on."

"I suppose that's all we can do," said Riku. "Alright I'm typing in the co-ordinates. Go get some rest. It's off to the next world."

"What's this one called?" Sora asked.

"According to the information, the world is called Darkened Ascended," said Riku. "The final fight is ahead…again."

**[1] I actually did find this somewhere on a site that rhymes with New Boob.**

**Whoo the second Final Fight is ahead. Oh I can't wait.**


	26. New Tricks against Old Enemies

**The second final fight is soon. Can you have a second final?**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 26**

**New Tricks against Old Enemies**

"Here we are. The Darkened Ascended," Riku said. They looked out of the window to see the new world. It was a circular base with a tower in the centre. Around the top of the tower were clouds all dark and gloomy as if about to strike with thunder. At the base of the tower was a small town which was split into 3 sections each with their own distinct features. The whole place seemed to be a cross between a dark castle and steam-punk. "What do you think?"

"I don't care," Sora said. "We're just here to defeat those guys, stop their master plan and go back home. We've missed so much of school."

"Who cares about school," smiled Kairi. "This is the most fun I've ever had. Come on Riku. Fly us down there." Riku did as he was told and directed the ship towards the new world, all three of them ready for the fight ahead."

**Welcome to the Darkened Ascended**

The trio walked through the first area which gave off a kind of blue aura from each of the buildings. Large pipes were stuck out of the ground and going into the buildings presumably providing them with power. "Draw your weapons guys," said Sora as the Keyblade appeared in his hands. Kairi and Riku drew their weapons too, the Springs Despair and the Way to the Dawn. "We don't know when our first fight will happen."

They walked into the next area, a large one at that, where they saw a hooded figure standing holding a metallic staff.

"So you finally arrived," said Zurox. "And here we thought you'd die on us."

"Not a chance in hell Zurox," Sora yelled.

"Chance? I plan to bet on those odds." Zurox lifted his staff and it formed into a two handed sword. He ran forwards weapon held behind him about to strike. Sora ran forwards followed by Kairi and then Riku. Zurox ducked under Sora slashing him in the back, continuing on to hit Kairi in the stomach then uppercut into Riku knocking all three of them down. "Is that all you've got?"

Sora regained himself and ran full pelt at Zurox. He managed to slash him in the back then followed it up with an uppercut into his arm and a downward smash into Zurox's side. Zurox used a corridor of darkness to regain himself and opened up a few more. Neo shadows flew out and attacked the trio. Riku slashed at them and defeated them with ease which also increased his energy gauge. Sora and Kairi also defeated them with ease and their energy gauges increased also. Eventually, the trio started to glow with power.

"What's going on?" Zurox complained.

"Ready guys?" Sora asked. Kairi and Riku nodded. "Ok Defence form!" The trio held their arms forwards and then crossed them across their chests. The light seeped towards their hands and making them glow with energy. In three flashes of light, they had changed their appearance dramatically. Sora was covered in an armour of thorns which were electrified with the power of Thunder. The armour on his arms and legs were bulkier than the rest seeming to give him more agility. Kairi has her arms and legs encased in Blizzard magic with shield extensions on them. Her dress had also formed into ice but was still waving around as if made of fabric. They were easily the coldest thing there yet Kairi still felt as warm as ever. Riku had formed into a human fireball with every part of him ablaze. Due to the heat, he was able to float above the ground and able to move quicker. Like Kairi, he was still the same temperature even though covered in the flames.

"Damn it!" Zurox complained. He transformed his sword into sharpshooter guns and fired multiple shots straight for the trio. Kairi stepped forwards and spun around creating a barrier of ice which stopped the bullets. Riku then burst through the barrier and swooped in smashing into the ground creating a burst of fire sending Zurox into the air. Sora followed up by doing the same by creating an electric blast as Zurox hit the ground sending him up even higher. Zurox then came down with a blast into the ground while Sora and Riku jumped back in line with Kairi.

"Let's end this," Sora said. They swung their arms sideways unleashing a blast of each of their elements. A wave of fire, ice and lightning blasted over Zurox knocking down and out. The trio reverted back into their original forms and watched as Zurox started to fade.

"It seems my legacy has ended," he complained. "Don't you think?"

"You had no legacy to begin with," Riku said.

"I had more of a legacy than you will ever get," Zurox laughed. He continued to fade away into the darkness and eventually disappeared completely leaving nothing but his black coat which Kairi went and then picked up.

"Keep it as a souvenir?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah why not," Sora laughed. He looked ahead into the next area. It looked the same except instead of a blue aura, a red aura was emitted. "Onto the next one."

Sora walked over the border of the Blue area into the red one and felt a shiver up his spine. He looked down at himself and saw that his clothes were covered in the white thorns and lightning as if he were ready to change forms. "Hey guys. Check this out," he exclaimed.

"Whoa, that's cool," Kairi said. "I wonder why that is?"

"I have a feeling it might have something to do with the darkness in the area. We must be absorbing it as we go on," Riku explained. "We really have to go back to that clothing store and thank those holograms." Kairi and Riku walked over the border and they too were fully charged, Kairi with her pink dress and Riku with his black tattoos on his arms.

They walked on into another open area; the buildings were crumbling away as if attacked at. They then saw a hooded figure hitting a building with a couple of battle-axe's.

"Mawlix!" Sora yelled. "What are you doing?" The hooded figure turned around to reveal the face of the brute Mawlix.

"Im building up my rage!" he yelled. "Rage for a fight."

"What?" Riku whispered to Sora. Mawlix then stopped hitting the building and it crumbled down to the ground.

"Ok. Done," he smiled. He dashed towards the group at full force with his fist shooting upwards. He punched Sora up in the jaw and launched him up into the air. Mawlix jumped up and hit him even higher with his dual battle-axe. So high in fact that a fall like that would surely kill him.

"I guess that's one down," Mawlix smiled. He teleported to the ground with a corridor of darkness and waited for the thud of a dead body. He heard the massive crash as Sora hit the ground. But as he turned around, his glee turned to rage as he saw Sora had changed his appearance to his Magic form. His hands and feet surrounded in thunder magic. "Magic form," he said. "Great for high falls." Kairi and Riku looked at each other, nodded and copied him, changing into their magic forms. Kairi's hands and foot were sealed in balls of ice while Rikus hands and feet were set alight with fire. Sora jumped up into the air and drop kicked towards Mawlix who then dodged the attack. Sora however rebounded from the ground and shot forwards punching Mawlix in the chest. Riku run forwards too and circled Mawlix keeping him in a circle of fire. Riku ran out of the circle and left it to swirl around Mawlix. The fire grew around him like some sort of tornado. Kairi then skated over to Mawlix and cast Blizzaga on the swirling fire freezing it around him and sealing him into a red crystal. The trio then used Firaga, Thundaga and Blizzaga respectively. The Firaga melted the Blizzaga turning it into water which then amplified the Thundaga. The powered up Thundaga hit the giant red crystal and it exploded creating a solid casing around Mawlix, a cocoon of light. The light burned Mawlix up as he tried to escape from his prison of light. A crack appeared and Mawlix managed to break through, but it was too late. His face was already burning up and was starting to disappear.

"No. This can't be," Mawlix cried. "It was only the start of our lord's master plan. I guess this is the end." With one last whimper, he disappeared into the darkness, he too leaving his black coat which Kairi then picked up and stored away.

"That's two down," she smiled. "Now only Pronex." Sora looked ahead towards the next area and saw that it gave off a white aura. A flash of light and they all reverted back into their original forms. They all walked through to the next district and again, their form gauges were filled, this time a little brighter than last time.

"Must be the darkness again," said Sora. "Ahh well, who's to complain?"

"Yeah I guess," Riku said. "We need all the help we can get for the fight against Pronex."

"Oh and speak of the devil," Sora smiled. They walked into yet another open area with a path at the far end. Guarding the path was a hooded figure. The figure pulled down his hood to reveal Pronex, the final one of the trio.

"I see you managed to defeat Zurox and Mawlix," Pronex said.

"Not only that but they wont be coming back anytime soon," said Sora.

"Well that's quite an achievement," Pronex said. "Tell you what. I'll let you past if you can beat my, lets say, little game." Pronex gave a little smile in a sort of taunting manner.

"Fine. What are the conditions?" Sora said.

"It's simple enough," Pronex smiled. "Reach the other side of the arena, and don't die." Pronex drew his Scimitars and smashed them into the ground. The far end of the arena rose up and became a very steep hill with Pronex standing at the top. Sora tried to run up the hill but it was too steep and so started to slip back down. Sora back flipped and landed back on the ground to avoid hurting himself. "I guess we have no choice but to use our forms," Riku said. He held his weapon forwards and controlled his energy into his weapon. It burst into flames and it formed into a scimitar of fire was formed. Sora and Kairi did the same and their weapons also went under transformation. Sora's Keyblade was bound in thorns and electrified. Kairi's was encased in ice and daggers of frost were shot along the shaft and at the top.

Riku started the attack by slicing at the base of the wall which then split down the centre. Sora launched himself through the crack in the wall by hitting his keyblade into the ground. He however couldn't make it the way through because Riku hadn't made a large enough gap at the end. Sora then decided to go up by wall jumping between the broken roads. Kairi too followed by creating ice platforms underneath her and leaping from platform to platform. Riku meanwhile used those ice platforms to get to the top, melting each one as he went. The trio then reach the top where Pronex stood with his Scimitars in each hand.

"I'm giving you a chance to go on without a fight," said Pronex. "Why must you be so violent?"

"So you can join Zurox and Mawlix," Riku said.

"What! They're gone!" Pronex questioned.

"Yeah and guess who's going to join them?" Sora smiled. He dashed forwards with his enhanced Keyblade aloft. With each and every hit made, Pronex managed to block all them. Sora jumped back out of fatigue and Riku and Kairi took over hacking and slashing one after another. Again Pronex managed to block every attack that came at him. When an opening appeared, Pronex hit them both away over the cavern they had climbed. Riku however hit the edge and fell down the cavern and back to the ground while Kairi had managed to drop Zurox's black coat with him. Pronex then smashed the two Scimitars into the ground shattering the rock platforms and collapsing them to the ground with Sora and Kairi still on top and Riku buried underneath.

"Riku!" Kairi and Sora yelled. They ran towards where Riku was buried but were halted when a bright bronze light shone from the rubble. The rocks flew away and Riku burst out in Zurox's coat carrying the flame scimitar. When he landed, he held the weapon to his chest and swiped it down to his side and it formed into a new weapon. It resembled Riku's Way to the Dawn yet there were two and crossed over each other. Darkness had joined at the centre and created a blade of dark energy.

"What?" Pronex wondered. Riku dashed forwards and slashed at Pronex blasting him into the wall. Pronex dropped his Scimitars and collapsed to the ground. Riku then leapt into the air and stabbed down on Pronex who then exploded into darkness leaving nothing but his coat.

"Whoa Riku. That was brutal even for you," Sora said.

"Yeah it's kind of scary," Kairi said. "What exactly happened to you?"

"New powers," Riku responded. "The coat must have been a reactant. Put it on."

"Huh?" Sora asked. He did as he was told anyway and put on Pronex's coat while Kairi put on Mawlix's. They didn't quite fit but that wasn't the unusual thing. 2 bright lights of silver and gold shone just as brightly as the bronze one before and there they stood in newly fitting coats and a new weapon at hand.

**A bit of an unusual chapter. I mean yeah I killed off the 3 enemies that have been annoying us the whole time and we have new powers. Stay tuned.**


	27. Finding the Source

**Déjà vu?**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 27**

**Finding the Source**

As the trio finally took the time to examine their appearances, they felt a strong presence nearby. The next area waited emitting a green aura and the stronghold of the enemy.

"So I guess this is it," said Sora under his hood.

"We finally get to save the worlds," Kairi said under her hood.

"Let's go then," Riku leaded holding his new weapon. The trio walked down the dark alleyway towards the green light, a burst of energy hit them and they were fully regenerated.

The three of them stood outside a tall tower which was emitting a green light. At the top was a red a white pillar of light which seemed to be coming from something at the top. Sora re-drew his weapons, the Oathkeeper which he held in his right hand while a slightly modified Oblivion was held in his right. It was bent backwards slightly and Sora held it in a reverse grip. Riku re-drew his weapon; two Way to the Dawn's which were crossed at the centre with a dark blade coming from the centre emitting a dark aura. This was the Dark X-blade. Kairi had gloved weapons; metallic plates covering her hands with metal claw extensions, but still allowed basic movements of the hand. Mounted on the tops was her Spring's Despair weapon which had a metallic colour to it rather than its standard pink. This was the Spring of Iron.

Sora looked at Kairi, then at Riku and started to sprint towards the tower at full pace. Hundreds of Neo-Shadows appeared out of the ground and raced towards the trio. Sora leapt up who was then followed by at least 10 Neo-shadows. He span in mid air like a helicopter whacking away the Neo-shadows. Kairi caught a couple of Neo-shadows in her claws and smashed them into each other. She then started to pounce like a cat towards a large group and hacked and slashed through them. Riku slashed at a couple of Neo-shadows but then smashed his weapon into the ground creating a shockwave throwing up all of the neo-shadows and sending them back into darkness. Sora leapt at the tower and hooked into the wall with his Oathkeeper and started to scale it using the Oblivion. Riku followed suit except he split his weapon apart to dual wield and started to scale the wall too. Kairi just used her claws to hook to the wall and climbed it like a cat. They were however being watched by a man in a black and red mask who was stood at the top. He then walked away and towards the machine emitting the light which was being controlled by two figures.

"How is progress?" the masked figure asked.

"Almost done sir," said the first figure. He didn't turn around towards him however.

"We're at 84% complete," said the second figure. She too didn't turn around. "Estimated time of completion, 1 hour 22 minutes."

"Excellent," the masked man said. "Can the machine do alright on its own?"

"Automation can be done but isn't recommended," said the first figure.

"Can it at least be operated by one person?" the masked figure asked.

"I can take it on my own sir," said the second figure. "When it reaches 95%, it can be automated."

"Ok then," said the masked figure. "Riku. Go and take care of our guests." The first figure turned around to reveal the face of Riku. "And try and get some 'data' if you can." Riku nodded. He opened up a dark portal and was off.

The cloaked trio climbed up onto the platform above them and walked into a large, circular room. There were various pillars around the side with a spiral staircase at the centre. Riku took down his hood and pulled his long hair out of the back of the coat. "So I guess the only way is up," he said. Kairi also stepped forwards and took down her hood. She shook her head back which pulled her red hair out of her coat.

"It seems too easy," she said looking around. "I mean sure there were Neo-shadows outside but they're not exactly a challenge and we just waltzed in here." Sora threw back his hood revealing his spiky brown hair.

"Were just asking to be killed now aren't we?" he sighed.

"Come on," Riku laughed. "Let's go while it is easy." They started to walk towards the staircase when they heard a strange noise. A corridor of darkness opened up and a dark shadow shot out straight for Sora. The shadow passed through him yet still knocked him down. The shadow then disappeared into another corridor of darkness and disappeared.

"What was that!" Sora exclaimed. A third corridor of darkness opened up and out stepped the clone Riku. The trio held their weapons forwards in preparation to attack.

"Now really," said the Riku clone. "You know it's only polite, when you enter someone's home, that you take off your coats." On the word 'coats', Riku clone shot a burst of wind which blew away the coats of Sora, Kairi and Riku. On each of their chests were crosses of metal with a circular plate at the centre. "Now isn't that better," Riku clone laughed.

"What do you want?" Sora yelled. "Why did you knock me down?"

"Oh I was just collecting some data," said Riku. "You see we didn't get enough data the last time."

"The last time?" Sora questioned.

"It doesn't matter," Riku clone said. "What does matter is you will not be going any further than this."

"Oh yeah, what are you going to do?" Riku said. "You're outnumbered."

"What you're forgetting is I use darkness as my weapon and there are no limits to power," Riku clone yelled. A wave of energy burst out of him forcing the trio to block their eyes. When they opened them again, Riku had changed form. He had formed into a sort of dark spider with 8 spindly legs as well as his own arms and legs. In his hands were two Way to the Dawns each emitting dark energy. Each of the 8 long legs had the blades of the Way to the Dawn as each of its feet. In total there were 10 weapons surrounding the being that had been created.

"Come then," said the creature, the Dusk Spider. "Face me."

"You two go on," Riku said. "I can get this on my own."

"Are you sure?" Sora asked.

"Don't worry," Riku said. "He doesn't stand a chance." Sora nodded and grabbed Kairi's hand. He dashed past the Dusk Spider and up the stairs.

"Now. Prepare your end," Riku beckoned. He punched the plate on his chest and a bright, bronze light shone from the metal plate encasing Riku. The light faded and Riku's appearance had changed. He was now wearing a bronze suit of armour. The leg plates were bronze with black lines in them depicting fire. This was the same with his arm plates and shoulder pads. His palms were encased in metal too with the fire symbol etched into them. On the back however, metal blades that stuck out slightly, they too were in the shape of fire. There was a similar thing on his feet too. His chest plate was bronze in colour like everything else. There were fire symbols on here too that looked like they were burning the bottom half of the metal chest plate. The helmet as again bronze in colour and it also had 'ears' that resemble fire.

"Get ready," Riku said before he charged in to attack.

Meanwhile back on the roof, the man in the mask was still stressing over the attack that had begun. "It seems they are going one on one," he said. He then turned to the dark figure that was busy working on the machine. A second figure appeared and started to type on the computer.

"You go and take care of them," the second figure said. "Just delay them long enough to get the machine to reach 100%." The first figure nodded and disappeared into a corridor of darkness.

"Are you sure you can handle the machine?" the masked man asked. The figure just nodded and continued to type away on the control desk.

"Completion at 89%," the figure responded. "It may get to a point where you will have to take over, sir."

"Fair enough, as long as my plan is realised," said the masked man. "I will gain the power I desire. All of it."

Sora and Kairi reached another room similar to that of the first. The stairs however still continued on to the next room. "Almost there," Sora said.

"Yeah but it's still too easy," Kairi said.

"Man you really don't know when to shut up, do you Kairi?" said a voice. A blast of wind shook through the room. Kairi was blown into the room before Sora could grab onto her and he was sealed off with some sort of force-field.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled trying to break though the force-field with his Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

"It's no use trying Sora," said the voice. "You might as well go on."

"What?" Sora said confused. The source of the sound emerged from the ground in a dark portal, shrouded in a coat.

"I said leave," it said. "I only wish to fight her." The figure pointed at Kairi who prepared her weapon for battle. Darkness then started to appear from the ground and formed into tentacles, waving around like flags.

"Sora, just go on," said Kairi.

"But…?" Sora started.

"Just go!" Kairi yelled. "I can handle this." Sora was a little hesitant but never the less, went on ahead. Kairi then turned to the Dusk Squid. She responded by hitting the plate on her chest. She started to glow in a silver light which eventually faded revealing Kairi in a suit of armour. It was pretty much the same as Riku's except instead of bronze with a red tint, it were silver with a blue tint. Also instead of Fire patterns on it, the patterns resembled either snowflakes or ice shards. Her weapon had fused with the power half of her arm meaning her whole arm had now become the weapon. "You're gonna regret fighting me alone," Kairi taunted. The figure sent a couple of tentacles at Kairi while she blocked them and charged through towards the figure.

Back on the roof, progress was slow with the machine. It had only reached 92% by the time they had got report of Sora getting through to the next room. The last figure was busily rapping away on the control desk before he was shoved aside by the masked man. "I'll do it myself," he said angrily. "Just go and take care of our intruder." The figure was a little shocked but never the less followed his orders. He disappeared into a corridor of darkness and went to greet his opponent. The masked man however stayed up on the roof and continued the typing of the machine. "I will get what I want. No little children will stop me!"

Sora had finally reached the third and final room before the roof. There were however no stairs from there on out. There was however an iron door which lead outside. Sora assumed there to be a ladder leading up. He walked over to it and tried to push it over. It was however not budging. Sora continued to try and shove it open but it eventually disappeared into the wall.

"Hah, you have to love illusions," said a voice causing Sora to jump. He turned around to see a figure standing next to the stairs. "That's one of our master's you know. You should be thankful. You're the only one who's lived long enough to see even that."

"So I'm assuming you're here to defeat me then," Sora asked.

"Hey you're right," said the figure. "Except not just to defeat you. I'm going to wipe you off the face of the earth."

"So I'm assuming you're the same as the other two and have another phase," Sora said.

"Right again," said the figure. Darkness swirled around the figure, hiding him from view. When the darkness faded, all that could be seen was the figure covered in feathers. The feathers then parted into wings which then shot outwards releasing a few other feathers. The wings, like the legs of the spider and the tentacles of the quid, were pitch black and resembled those of an eagle.

"Knew it," Sora said. "Alright, you wanna play rough? So be it." Sora hit the chest plate and he was shrouded in a golden light. Once the light had faded, Sora was now in a suit of armour which was golden with a yellow tint. The patterns on it showed bolts of lightning while on the helmet were large lightning 'ears'. On the back of the hands were hooks of some sort which Sora attached his keyblades. "Here we go!"

**Ugh worst descriptions ever. I wish I could have done better but I do have a bit of writers block. I will however do better next chapter. Don't forget to review the story and as always, constructive criticism is always accepted.**


	28. The Terror Trio

**Finally got Chapter 28 up after 3 months. I've had problems with College recently so I haven't been active. I hope this makes up for the wasted time.**

**Wandering the Darkness**

**Chapter 28**

**The Terror Trio**

Riku started his attack on the Dusk Spider by slamming his dark X-blade into the ground and launching himself into the air above the enemy. The Dusk Spider just stepped back to avoid the attack and shot a bladed leg straight at Riku who was knocked away into the far wall. Damage was minor thanks to the armour but never the less, the Dusk Spider was still strong. Riku continued by stabbing the weapon into the ground causing it to rupture underneath the enemy. The ground did cause it to lose balance but it was regained by stabbing each of its bladed legs into the ground keeping it upright.

"Little tricks like that aren't going to affect me," said the Riku clone.

"It's a good thing there's more then, isn't there," Riku said laughing through the helmet. Riku clone looked at him with confusion. It was then when Riku used the grounded weapon to force fire into the broken earth causing it to heat up and burnt at the Dusk Spider's legs. While the enemy was distracted by the hot earth, Riku unearthed his weapon and slammed it into Riku clone causing it to collapse. "How do you like that then?" Riku taunted.

The Dusk Spider retaliated by grabbing onto Riku with two of its legs. Using 3 legs to keep itself upright, it used the remaining 3 to hack and slash at Riku while the clone hack and slashed with his own weapons. The two legs holding onto Riku then whipped away cutting into him and causing Riku to spin into the ground. The helmet had been torn off, a sign that heavy damage was dealt [1].

Riku wasn't one to give up so easily however. He grabbed his weapon again and ran at the Dusk Spider for a sideward's hit. The Dusk Spider did a simple manoeuvre to hit at Riku with its leg but then he spun underneath the leg and uppercut into the main body. The Dusk Spider then flew up into the air and dropped its two hand held weapons. Riku then span up hitting the two weapons back up into the enemy before driving his own weapon into Riku clone. Riku fell from the air and landed on his feet leaving his weapon embedded into the body of his clone. "Very good Riku," said the clone trying to remove the weapon from his torso. "But you have failed to notice that now you are weapon-less and I, on the other hand, am not." The Dusk Spider removed the Dark X-Blade from his stomach and fell back to the ground and wielded it.

The Dusk Spider hurtled towards Riku using its bladed legs to dig into the broken ground for stability. When it reached Riku, it swung the Dark X-blade down on him driving him into the ground. Riku retaliated by using his Fire abilities to launch balls of flame at the Dusk Spider which easily deflected them. Riku then punched into the ground and started to heat up the earth below causing it to become very hot, conditions which the Dusk Spider couldn't cope with. Riku, who could handle the heat, jumped at the dazed Dusk Spider and knocked it off balance. He then wrestled the Dark X-Blade from the enemy's grasp and hacked and slashed at him with it. When the heat faded, the Dusk Spider regained itself and picked up its own weapons.

"You're a pain in my ass Riku," Riku clone said. "When will you give up? It's inevitable."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked. Riku clone then started to laugh menacingly.

"The end," he said in hysterics before yelling. "The end!" He then dashed at Riku with its 8 long, bladed legs. At full speed, the Dusk Spider hopped up onto one legs and started to spin using the remaining 7 as a blade. The blade hit Riku and he was pinned against the wall repeatedly hit by 7 legs. The spinning then stopped and they all shot forwards at once jabbing into Riku's torso. They didn't penetrate the tough armour but it did cause his shin guards to rip off as another sign of health loss. The Dusk Spider then jumped back and threw his two hand held weapons straight at Riku and the wall behind him. Debris fell from the wall and crashed down creating a cloud of dust around the fallen Riku hiding him from view. "Finally down," Riku clone said laughing once again. He then heard a piece of rubble fall away from the rest and it bounced out of the dust cloud straight at one of its legs. "What..?"

Riku then darted out of the dust cloud in a fire ball and tackled the Dusk Spider into the staircase at the centre of the room. Riku slashed at the spider with each one empowered by fire. Flames were falling from both the clone and the weapon covering the arena. Riku then drove the weapon once again into clone with the power of fire before pulling to back out and jumping onto the staircase. Each of the legs fell off Riku clone and faded into darkness but continued to burn. "Tsk. Wasn't even that good a fight," Riku said taunting his clone before running up to the next floor. The Riku clone didn't die however. He walked out of the burning mess which was ever growing. "So you want a good fight Riku," he said to himself. He opened up a corridor of darkness. "I'll show you a good fight." He then walked through the corridor of darkness before he was hit by burning rubble.

On the second floor, Kairi was busy fighting her target, the Dusk Squid. She had just pounced on her target by using a tentacle to fling herself at the mysterious figure who then brought up another tentacle to bat her away into the light wall that separated her from everyone else.

"Stop trying Kairi," said the Dusk Squid. "You're only going to get yourself killed."

"Well I have to die, and then I plan to bring you with me," Kairi said. She empowered her weapon with the power ice and used the ground to reach her enemy like a cat. Every time her claws made contact with the ground, a circle of ice was created which she then used to increase her speed. A tentacle shot out of the ground which Kairi then clawed at freezing it where it stood. Using the keyblade attachments, she shattered through the frozen tentacle and continued her assault. 10 dark tentacles then shot out of the ground, each heading straight at Kairi. One crashed into the ground while Kairi jumped onto it freezing it in place. A second tentacle then crashed down missing Kairi but smashing the frozen tentacle. Kairi then froze the second one and landed on top of it. 2 more tentacles then came crashing down from the left and right as well as a third, central one. Kairi landed on the first two and froze them and darted through the third freezing it and shattering it. The final 5 created a wall in front of the mysterious figure becoming a form of defence. Kairi then kicked off a falling sharp of ice and started to spin in mid air, claws forwards. She broke through the defence and dove straight into the mysterious figure and started to claw at it. The figure managed to get away by using the darkness before creating a barrier of light between them.

"I'll admit," said the figure. "That wasn't too bad. I'll be sure to remember that for next time."

"Don't you plan to kill me?" Kairi asked. "I thought that's why you locked me in this room. So no one would interfere."

"You thought I put it up to stop others getting in?" the figure asked before bursting out in laughter. "I put it up to stop you getting to the top of the tower. You're the weakest out of the three of you. We planned to stop you interfering with our plan and to stop the others from dying. Oh and speaking of dying, Riku should be done by now Riku."

"What?" Kairi exclaimed. "Riku's…"

"Dead!" the figure laughed. "Dead, dead, DEAD!" The figure shot a tentacle out of the ground which then wrapped around the shocked Kairi and started to squeeze the life out of her. "We don't plan to kill you. We just plan to keep you away from Sora and Riku so you can't heal them. You three are the perfect team. The skilled fighter, the heavy hitter and the healer. You remove the healer and the team is at its weakest. You will be nothing but a subordinate."

"I'll… show you who's… ugh… a subordinate," Kairi stammered as the squeezing intensified. She channelled her magic ability through her armour which then froze the tentacle in place which stopped the squeezing intensity. She quickly freed her arm enough to slash at the tentacle to break it. As she fell into the ground, she prepared another full body, magic attack and smashed into the ground creating an ice haze which covered the entire room in ice with curved ramp at the edge of the room. Kairi then used the slick ice to skate straight at the mysterious figure. Dark tentacles once again shot out of the ground, 8 of which surrounded the mysterious figure and swirled around it creating a dome around it. Kairi jumped at a dark tentacle and grabbed onto the top. She used her weight to pull it out of ground and still maintain speed. She then threw the severed tentacle at a group of three and all 4 disappeared into darkness. Kairi then launched up an ice ramp and skated back down at a faster pace straight at the dark dome of tentacles from the Dusk Squid. Kairi broke straight through it and reappeared at the far end. She then kept going and straight into the light wall that was blocking her path. It shattered upon impact and she flew into Riku who had just reached the floor.

"Kairi!" Riku yelled as he skated along ice with Kairi across his stomach. "What's going on?"

"Riku?" Kairi exclaimed pulling off her helmet to reveal her red hair. "I thought… I thought you were…" She almost cried when the mysterious figure piped up.

"Ahh so our fire warrior survived," the figure said. "I guess our plan is almost complete then." They then opened up a corridor of darkness and turned around towards it. "Sora must be the one who will die then." They then stepped through the corridor and it closed behind them.

"What the hell happened here?" Riku asked looking around at the icy floor that had been created and was slowly starting to melt away. "And what did they say to you?"

"They said that you had died," Kairi explained. Her face then contorted as she had a sudden realisation. "Oh no, Sora!" Kairi got her self back up and put her helmet back on. She then ran up the spiral staircase closely followed by Riku who couldn't replace his armour like Kairi did.

Sora was having a tough time with his own fight. The hooded figure was making it hard for him to land a decent hit with the giant wings it possesses. Sora jumped at it with his Oathkeeper but the attack was avoided. Sora then swung round with his Oblivion to try and land a cheap hit but even that failed as the hooded figure flew up to the ceiling. "Give it up Sora," said the figure. "You can't even land a single hit on me even if you tried. Oh wait, you are trying. Hah!" The Dusk Eagle swooped down and slashed into Sora's armour and swooped back up before diving back down. The Dusk Eagle grabbed onto Sora and threw him into the far wall where he then fell to the ground, helmet smashed. "Would you like to see another illusion?" said the hooded figure. He held his hands out and the ceiling then started to morph around, contorting into nothing. It looked like the entire roof had gone and they were now staring up into the night sky. The Dusk Eagle then shot up high into the illusion as if it were real.

The Dusk Eagle then shot back down at an astronomical rate straight at the fallen Sora who was slowly making his way back up to his feet. Sora saw the enemy come straight at him and raised his weapons as a cross. The Dusk Eagle hit the keyblades and broke through the defence landing heavy damage on Sora, enough to shatter his leg plates from his armour. The Dusk Eagle then grabbed onto Sora and flew up into the illusion again. The Dusk Eagle continued but Sora hit the invisible ceiling and smashed into it before falling back to the ground in a heap. The Dusk Eagle then landed next to him and laughed. "You pitiful fool," the enemy said laughing. "You are no match for me. And now…" He raised his wings up into the air and lined them up like blades. "…it's the end. Goodbye…" the wings came down. "…SORA!"

**I hope you liked this edition of Wandering the Darkness. Will Sora escape from the Dusk Eagle? Will Kairi and Riku make it in time? Find out next chapter.**


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